lacey said...

ahh, got to love aussies and australia, not one person so far has call them self an out and out waterman. this waterman league caper- is it a hollywood blockbuster or something. i would be embarrassed if one of my mates asked me about it. mind you, who would call them self an ironman
cheers

The term 'waterman' is heavily entrenched in the hawaiian culture for which they are very proud of and one thing you don't do is disrespect them.[}:)]
The 'Waterman League' is a great concept and we should be embracing and supporting it no matter where or what waves they surf. I'm glad it is going to have a stop at chopes because it will show the world that the sport is serious and I look forward to the insane pictures that are going to come from that session and the sessions there after. The media releases so far have been extraordinary and prove this is going to be a professional run event.
I say bring it on and will openly support any events they run here in oz.

True waterman, Dave Kalama, Aaron Napoleon,

Sorry Simon but it is a cock of a name.

They are not fishing, diving or distance paddling they are surfing on sups.

The concept is good the marketing sucks big time.

Why not call it what it is? or is ASSUPP (Association of Surfing Stand Up Paddleboard Professionals) World Tour not good??

And water is over rated....

What about the coopersman league?

Scotty Mac said...

And water is over rated....

What about the coopersman league?

now your talking

Simon,

Do you have any information on the Tour information for the SUP?? Who is going , where it is a web site??

I have no problems respecting a peoples culture and tradition but I think an individual has to each earn their own respect and does not come about because of a place typed in their passport. There are just as many dickheads everywhere else as there is here.

rollo90 said...

this is the most pointless topic I have ever read. can not believe it has gone this long.

aren't they all!!!!

Being a middle-aged white man that works at a computer screen all day there's no way I would strut around proclaiming my waterman status to everybody.

On the other hand, a bunch of us just finished a downwinder with winds pushing well over 40 knots. I've played in the ocean with wild dolphins and paddled my surfboard beside a 20m long Southern Right whale. I've dived with sharks in the south pacific and shared fresh fish caught by an islander using an old t-shirt for a net and cooked in an old drum on a fire on the beach.

I've surfed and dived and kited and sailed and paddled for well over 40 years. If I don't get wet at least once a week I get depressed and suicidal.

I might be a crappy, limp-wristed, middle-aged kook. But am I a waterman? Are we watermen? You bet your life we are!!!!! [}:)]

NewcastleSUP said...

We should be grateful that Waterman League are hosting the SUP World Tour, couldn't imagine Quiksilver, Billabong or any other big name brand running the event.

John99 said...

Simon,

Do you have any information on the Tour information for the SUP?? Who is going , where it is a web site??

The full history of Waterman League and what the brand is about can be found here:

http://watermanleague.com/index.php


Cheers
Simon

sorry simon, i'm not grateful.i can't really go it until the a.s.p are running the show. the whole thing reeks of self promotion.the asupp seems to be running a distant second. does the asupp have its own web site!. more asupp and less waterman league i reckon- they will still get theirs
cheers
ps the asupp should come under asp governing imo

thanks simon

so the waterman league is a brand that is sponsoring the standup tour????

and the tour is the asupp????

right the light has shined onto my lifeless waterlogged brain

cool

All this fuss over the word WATERMAN is pretty immature. If somebody wants to call themself a Waterman then let them. I dont care if its some kook with dry hair or Napoleon Bonaparte Kalama himself.

If somebody wants to call their contest the Waterman tour then same deal. Its only a word. But dont expect me to ridicule or worship anyone just because of a silly label. Actions speak louder.

What I am seeing is the beginning of a big rupture between the surfer roots of SUP and the new devotees who come from anywhere BUT surfing. The newbs are kooks and ignorant for sure but they have an open mindedness the surfers lack. The surfers know the ettiquette and many technical aspects about riding waves but they are (generally) closed minded and only want the sport to progress in a surfer friendly direction.

As such we get ridiculous situations where people dont want to ride displacement designs because they 'look like kayaks', horror stories about what happens when you step out of line at an Aussie beach. And now a farcical debate about who gets to use the made up term 'Waterman'.

Get over it. SUP is post-surfing.

lacey said...

Gorgo said...

Being a middle-aged white man that works at a computer screen all day there's no way I would strut around proclaiming my waterman status to everybody.

On the other hand, a bunch of us just finished a downwinder with winds pushing well over 40 knots. I've played in the ocean with wild dolphins and paddled my surfboard beside a 20m long Southern Right whale. I've dived with sharks in the south pacific and shared fresh fish caught by an islander using an old t-shirt for a net and cooked in an old drum on a fire on the beach.

I've surfed and dived and kited and sailed and paddled for well over 40 years. If I don't get wet at least once a week I get depressed and suicidal.

I might be a crappy, limp-wristed, middle-aged kook. But am I a waterman? Are we watermen? You bet your life we are!!!!! [}:)]

mate that's all pretty cool stuff you have done- impressed

lacey said...
...
mate that's all pretty cool stuff you have done- impressed

Thanks for that. I didn't set out to do cool stuff. They just happen while being out for a surf or whatever.

If you look back through this forum most of us will have similar experiences and stories just from spending all our spare time in and around the ocean. The technical meaning of the term waterman is pointless and irrelevant. In the spirit the term and of people who bond with the sea and live life from that point of view, all of us are watermen. Waterpersons?

lots of different views, but i wonder what it is that drags us to water and ocean when we are designed for land?
cheers
ps in the heat of debating topic's, lets not forget we all love sup