I ride a 10 foot board so im ****ed either way. I just dive off and try to get as far through and deep as possible. Then just deal with the drag back pull under. It sucks and easy to get caught in the impact zone for the entire set or more...

Deep breath and dive into the base of the wave and wait for the drag back, can get a little ear popping on big days

Phil

It always amazes me when surfers paddle out behind me paddling out. I always try and go wide long way round but there will always be someone that just isn't thinking. 10ft board + 10ft leggie in any surf means keep clear. Even popping up over white water can drag you back meters... i always look about and try and take best possible action.

A mate got a clubbie handle put onthe nose of his board. He can Eskimo roll and hold on to it. He surfs any size and regularly goes to indo etc surfing over head ...

For my set up ill continue to jump and dive when needed.

Personally I try to stay away from other SUPer or proners and kick my board toward 2:00 o'clock and dive deep under the wave toward 11:00, and then use my paddle to reduce the distance of the drag. In bigger waves I avoid holding the leggie or board - too many stories of damaged fingers/hands.

On standupzone.com they have a thread describing how you can kick your board forward through the wave - before it breaks:
www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,27067.0.html

These threads are about how to get over the wave once it has broken:
www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,26515.0.html
and:
www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,25487.0.html

I am no expert in big surf, but keeping close to the board is the recipe for injuries, so:
- I try to always have nobody behind me, I do not wait for the sets to come. It is quite easy for us to paddle away from the surfers behind, although I reckon some are worse than deers in headlights :-)
- I just dive on the side, and try to let the board drag me without offering resistance, to avoid stressing the leash. Better lose some ground than have the leash snap. braking with the paddle is fine once the leash begins to recoil, but avoid it when it is still stretching.
- A new leash broke once then I bailed out and the board kept facing the wave: it backed with the leash in the fins and the leash was cut clean (in front of rocks). So now I always push the board away from the incoming wave when bailing out, parrallel to the wave, so that the leash will clear the fins
- In my experience, trying to jump over the board towards the wave may get you clipped hard by the nose (got some major knee & hip bruises), and throwing the board forwards may have the board come back at you (and the leash) with a vengeance... These manoeuvres may work 99% of the time, but you will regret the 1% when they fail (been 5 weeks out of the water this July from the tail in the ribs...)

This usually works. Did try a standing duck dive under the lip on a real big day, made it through ok unfortunately the paddle got ripped from my hands then had to paddle in to a set prone made it to the bottom couldnt bottom turn and got lit up.

Craig66 said..

Rossall said..
Deep breath and dive into the base of the wave and wait for the drag back, can get a little ear popping on big days

Phil

Yes I do/did the same, only this one time I didn't get dragged as far as I thought I would then grabbed my leggy to pull board and the lack of drag was answered.




So now if the wave is not too big, I paddle hard and at the last split second I jump off the back spearing the board forward and under the lip in a way it will make it to the other side and the board helps to hold me for getting dragged.

Ill add, there is a risk of this going very very bad (as im sure some of you guys will point out) its not something to try if anyone is close to you in any direction.

That picture has to be trick photography!!!!! Those boards were indestructible.Sorry for your loss. Your method BTW is by far the best IMHO.

There is one other approach that has worked well for me on occasion; the old windsurfing chicken jibe. As I am paddling out towards a big outside set, I try to evaluate early on whether I am going to have a good chance of making it over, or of at least shoving the board over. If it looks too risky, particularly if their are other surfers nearby, I will turn around and start paddling hard towards the beach so that I am as far inside the impact zone as possible. Then just before the white water hits from behind, either kneel or prone on the rear part of the board. You can then either ride the white water over towards a channel for a quick and easy paddle back out, or kneel back more on the tail to let the white water pass. If you are really lucky, you might even be able to angle over for a ride on a clean shoulder or inside reform so that the decision was not a total waste. Obviously this would be a pain in beach breaks where you would hate to lose that much ground, but on any break where there is a good channel that you can angle over towards in order to get back out quickly, you really have not lost much time, and have avoided: broken leash, broken board, others getting hit by your board, getting pounded and dragged in by the rest of the set. The key is making the decision early enough that you are well inside the impact zone, followed by a quick angle over to the channel. For those used to prone surfing, this approach makes no sense since we are used to being able to either duck dive or turn turtle; but a SUP is more like a windsurfer in that these are not options, and any ground lost is much more easily regained with a sail or paddle while avoiding broken gear. Just another option to consider.

Ouch, had the exact same happen to me last weekend. No cracking sound so all good...

breakbad said..

cantSUPenough said..
This is what NOT to do

Just imagine doing that with a pointy nosed board.

Yes - that could get ugly. I do think it kicked up higher in part because it has a flat nose.

obijohn said..
chicken jibe.

So that move's actually got a name?? Awesome.

You right, though running away from others and the worst impact zone is the best, you stated scenario has you looking up at a
board and body breaking lip coming down.

Too late too be a hero now, just survive, first body, and maybe the board if you can keep it out from under the lip. If the wave is
as big as you say it's the worst spot to try to hold any leash or handle.

Basically you are about to either break a leash/ board/someones elses head. Not the highlight of the session I bet.

cantSUPenough said..
This is what NOT to do

WTF Ouch...I'm now thinking those vanguard shapes are not so good for SUP !

Personally I don't SUP in anything over waist high, yet alone over head. So I just duck dive or roll,yet another good reason for boards other than SUP's in ya quiver