The last few surfs I have noticed more and more people are paddling for the shoulder when
another surfer is riding the wave. Half the time it ruins the wave for the person surfing or
creates a near miss. Today I saw probably 12 instances where this happened, 1 x SUP guy
and a bunch of mals, shortboards etc. It wasn't limited to any particular craft.

It's usually at spots that offer less than high performance waves meaning the average ability
in the water is not that high.

After talking to a surfer mate tonight on the goldy it became aware that even some pretty
good surfers might not be aware of it.

Does everyone here know about this general surf ettiquette rule?
* I'm not trying to preach anything here, and I know most will be aware of it, but for those
that are starting out or may not have a surfing background?

Basically as I understand it...
when paddling out, paddle around the break away from the breaking part of the wave so
you don't interfere with someone riding the wave. After catching a wave yourself, paddle back
out around the break leaving plenty of room for the people surfing the following waves.
If you are paddling out and can't avoid the breaking section of the wave with a surfer riding it,
then head inside towards the white water.

This rule applies to SUP just like every other surf craft. I know how tempting it is to head for
the shoulder when you have white water coming at you but it's not really the right thing to
do. If you don't think you will get over the white water, you may need to make a judgment
call if you have other surfers paddling out inside you. You might put them in danger if you fall,
so it may be worth pissing off one surfer and head for the shoulder rather than put others in
danger. But 90% of the time above should apply.

For anyone new to SUP this might be a useful link...
www.srosurf.com/rules.html

theDoctor said...


sit on the very tail of your board and raise the nose above the whitewash, or jump off and use your body weight on the tail of you board to lift and climb above a broken wave..
you'd be suprised at how large a wave you can climb and how little distance you lose when compared to a shortboarder duckdiving the same wave when you apply this technique..

or just turn your boat around and take it to the beach and start again if you're about to be flogged amongst the pack..

I agree climbing over is the best option, even if you don't think you will make it, it's still worth a shot.

dtm said...

i agree also
guys should really paddle into the whitewash and cop a beating than paddle for the shoulder and ruin someones wave or cause damage to the poor bloke riding the wave or a near miss and a bad taste in his/her head for a long time

As a SUP person encountering shortboarders in hard breaking waves I would suggest that you would very very seldom see a high quality wave that does not involve 2 or 3 people seeking to be the winner!!!...the one that catches it