Stand Up Paddle Surfing in Hawaii - StandUpPaddleSurf.net

[singlepic=5418,125,188]In follow up to my previous post, I was able to hook up with Joe Blair for an interview on his all new 12rsquo;6" race board. He shared his philosophies on why the board works, why it's so different than others and all in the normal Blair style. Check out the interview and hear more of his thoughts.#160;#160; Transcript:Evan Leong: Wersquo;re here with Joe Blair, wersquo;re going to talk about the new 12rsquo;6rdquo; race board that he just shaped up, something that wersquo;ve been talking about for probably 4 months and finally we got it.(0:00:13.8) Why donrsquo;t you explain a little bit of what yoursquo;re thinking when you made this board, because it looks way different than any of the other boards that Irsquo;ve ridden. The nose is different, the bottom looks different, and the whole thing is different.Joe Blair: (0:00:28.0)Well one of the things I put into it is, looking at the surfboards all the kids are riding today and they all have full concave bottoms. And then I used to make race boards and slalom race boards and the windsurfing for _______(0:00:40.2) And the concave worked very well, what I wanted to do was make it wider too, because all the boards have such a narrow nose and tail that sinks. You want glide, Irsquo;ve wanted to get the width? (0:00:54.6) and the concave in there to make the board glide faster as you paddle it.(0:00:59.3) And then the entry, that is really a tricky thing as your entry. You want to have a fast entry into your long black spot with the nose kick. And to me thatrsquo;s a very important thing to have on the board right there.Evan Leong: (0:01:12.0) You know on this board it almost feels like itrsquo;s more of a surfing kind of a board. I get more of a feel like Irsquo;m surfing a wave as opposed to kinda riding a longer, (I hate to say the word) lsquo;kayakrsquo; but thatrsquo;s kind of me what I feel on really long boards because itrsquo;s kind of these narrow and long things. This one almost feels like yoursquo;re surfing it for a lot of it. Then I would think, maybe that kinda detracts from the speed but it doesnrsquo;t seem to. Whatrsquo;s the scoop on that? (0:01:43.9)Joe Blair: Well I ran that concave way up to the nose plus made the nose wider. And I put really soft rails on that board all the way through to free it from many of the wave action which it might get, because the ocean has quite a different wave action, wind and chop and all kinds of different action. I wanted to free it up it could keep it going and not stick. I think in reference to the concave and the nose is super important. Otherwise you have a boat hull(0:02:17.7) principle and it plows.Evan Leong: (0:02:22.1) Why didnrsquo;t you go with a displacement hull type thinking, like some of the other ones wersquo;re seeing now?Joe Blair: (002:28.8) Well when I built the slalom boards I was wondering what the guys who have the concave running up front same with the same wave boards and the speed boards are really interesting that were made back then too. It was speed racing and windsurfing and it had the full concave all the way through going into the a double barrel(0:02:46.7) but I felt the single throughout the whole board is faster than having a double barrel most of them have double barrel. And thatrsquo;s more of a boat hole thing and that seems to push water in railroad.(0:02:57.3) And you were talking about the surfy feeling. I was trying to free it up instead of stick. Irsquo;ve got softer rails, the concave running all the way through and also having that clean fast entry going through. Itrsquo;s keep gonna your speed up and not stick. (0:03:12.6) I think the whole keyword will be sticking like a boat hole and plowing. Because water is not always flat. And Irsquo;m talking about a race board that might be longer for lakes and where you donrsquo;t have much wind, well I think the width in(0:0:30.5)nose and running that concave is go...

[singlepic=5115,188,125]After finishing 4th at the recently concluded Molokai Paddleboard race, I had a chance to talk to Morgan Hoesterey, the only female paddler for the SUP solo unlimited division. Morgan said that her stint in this race was just to step up to the challenge; she never expected anything from it. Using a 14rsquo; board without rudder, Morgan would definitely go for one with rudder in next yearrsquo;s race. In her first solo attempt in this event, she said it was an incredible feat but it was all worth it. The reason-ldquo;It was a goal I set for myself so I was just trying really hard to finish it.rdquo; I give Morgan a lot of credit. I lasted about 20 minutes in the Molokai Channel and 8 hours seems like torture. She also has overcome some pretty scary health challenges...a tumor in her leg while still in college. Check out the interview.#160;#160; [gallery=183]#160; Transcript:Evan Leong: This last downwinder, when you train normally?Morgan Hoesterey: Well kind of, for stuff like downwinder; I go with, or when, who ever will take me with them. Whoever will tolerate me I guess? (0:00:13.9) I don't like to do it by myself so before the Molokai thing I was training off with Jeff. He will call and he will let me call with him which is really nice. Whatever he does or wherever Jeff go he tolerates me, I'll go with him. (0:00:30.4)Evan Leong: That's cool.Morgan Hoesterey: Yes I like chasing after him. (0:00:32.6)Evan Leong: So before you did the Molokai race, when did you start stand up paddle surfing? (0:00:43.0)Morgan Hoesterey: The first time I was ever on a stand up paddle board was in like November of 2007, like around Thanksgiving time. (0:00:51.7)Evan Leong: Really, not even like half, maybe about half a year ago. (0:00:57.3)Morgan Hoesterey: Yes. I had this like: I'm going to do the Molokai races like around March and everyone thought I was crazy, and no one really took me very seriously. And finally like April, I've got upset for not being taken seriously, so I was like ok, "I will show everybody". And it was all like down hill spiral from there kind of thing. (0:01:18.9)Evan Leong: What kind of background do you have in sports?Morgan Hoesterey:I was a swimmer for UH (0:01:24.2) I did like the whole of the Olympic trial thing in all that no intention to win and stuff. But in 2004, I had like a big tumor pulled out of my leg and it kind of ended the swimming career for me. (0:01:40.1)Evan Leong: Did that affect you having a stand up for that long? (0:01:43.5)Morgan Hoesterey: No. It's fine now. It was just at that time like it was kind of a peak point in my whole swimming career thing, so the knee thing came at a really inconvenient time so that maybe was one of the reasons why I like stand ups so much, because I can do stand up. And it kind of replaced that whole thing. (0:02:03.3)Evan Leong: Did you surf too or not really? (0:02:06.2)Morgan Hoesterey: Yes, a longboard. (0:02:07.7)Evan Leong: What kind of training did you do to prepare for the Molokai?Morgan Hoesterey: Well I tried to go into downwind run like at least three times a week. And then finally went on two or three like really long ones. Like one time I went with Jeff and and that guy Kevin (Seid), who got 3rd, the guy from Everpaddle. (0:02:28.7)Evan Leong: How far did you go?Morgan Hoesterey: We went for a 20 mile run. We went from Backyard to Mokuleia? (0:02:34.8)Evan Leong: On the North shore.Morgan Hoesterey: Yes. That was first long one that I did and then the other one from Sandy's (Beach) to Ala Moana Bowls (0:02:43.9)Evan Leong: OkMorgan Hoesterey: And I did that only three times.Evan Leong: So you didn't train that much then?Morgan Hoesterey: I didn't do that many super distance things, but I tried to do a lot of endurance and stuff, like apply what I used to do for swimming. (0:02:59.0)Evan Leong: What kind...

In my recent interview with Hawaii born international shaper/surfer, Dennis Pang, I got a chance to know the guy whorsquo;s more than just your average shaper. Dennis talks about his SUP race creation for Tropical Blends ndash; the 17rsquo;6rdquo; custom race board that Guy Pere won rode to win the 2009 Duke's Oceanfest.Dennis said he goes for these types of boards for distance and endurance because of its inertia. And this is why hersquo;s been doing a lot of custom boards lately. I personally agree with him because from my experience, the heavier boards have more momentum, though you have to put more muscle to initiate it. My take on this is that, since I started doing the distant runs, I notice that Irsquo;ve been burning a lot of calories. So, if yoursquo;re up to gaining something from doing cardio stuff and losing weight, take Dennisrsquo; advice: ldquo;go distance paddling, read the water and take advantage of Hawaiirsquo;s ocean.rdquo; For a preview of Dennisrsquo; 18 year-career of shaping high performance boards and other surfing tips, check out this phone interview.nbsp;

I did this interview with Joe Bark last month over the phone. I just learned about Joe while getting more and more into the SUP distance paddling arena. Joe is famous for his paddleboards and is now expanding into stand ups. He's got a new 14' SUP racer coming out from Surftech in the future and we got the scoops in advance. I haven't gotten any date for the board release but it hopefully will be by Q1 2009.Transcript: (Scroll down to listen to the interview)Evan Leong: What's the Surftech one going to be in your words?Joe Bark: Just a really good all around board, whether it's dead flat or really good bumps in any direction and it's stable, and it seems to penetrate through the chop but it runs really good and just a really good board. (0:00:23.) I think we were just real lucky on it.Evan Leong: It's 14' by what?Joe Bark: It's 29frac12;" or 29"+ and has really responsive rocker on it and releases nice, with just tiny bumps, so tiny and you're catching them. Even xxxx (0:00:53.4). Just a really neat board, I'm really excited about it. I have had several people try it and the demo day [at Outdoor Retailer Expo] really went well. People look so excited about it. (0:01:06.9)Evan Leong: In California where you guys race, are there trade winds or a lot of bumps or not really?Joe Bark: It's usually flat. Some of the races have downwind but very few and even if you get them, when we do get a downwinder it can really be good, but it's usually a day late or a day early of the race, but there is really good downwind but on the race day, usually it's not happening. Usually it's just a flat California run.Evan Leong: How is the Surftech board gonna work in Hawaii especially like in this Hawaii Kai run or Maliko on Maui where there's a bit of bumps and wind and especially in xxxx (0:01:52.8) side shore with kind of cross winds?Joe Bark: It should work pretty good from the feedback we've sent some boards over and we've got some of those guys trying out now and they've been very happy with them. So the feedback is coming back from all over and it's really good (0:02:09.0) Well, the stand ups are changing by the day. When you shape by the time you put it on the water, it might not be what you really wanted at that time. Because you know the sport is growing so fast and it's changing. Your goal is (0:02:24.5) to have_____ speed and stability where as lay down water paddle, knee paddling paddle board (0:02:28.1) traditionally, you can handle that same board in most conditions, be it California board or Hawaiian board. Where as the stand up (paddle board), you almost see a quiver. If it's going to be a side chop this much you might give up a little speed to go on a little wider board. And some guys are really agile they can handle a narrow board and it doesn't bother them at all. The other guys can't get any direction or power unless they get a total stability, so it's really tough. It's a tough way to figure out who wants what, but as long as you got stability and speed that's going to do it. (0:03:03.9)Evan Leong: So the boards that are here in the island, are those customs (custom made) or is that Surftech's.?Joe Bark: No, they're customs like the one that Pete Johnson just bought, it's the one that run in that Shay (0:03:15.3) raced in that North shore race, the Hennessey's race (0:03:18.1) and then a friend of Mark Rushlow? (0:03:19.4) set me up with Kalai Fernandez (0:03:21.6) he just got one; I guess he put it in the water yesterday and that was a 14'. Jim Russi has a 14' as well. There's a 16' that Pete Johnson had is what won the xxxx race (0:03:37.1). With the same exact boards stretched to 16', I've started with that board at 12', tried at 13' it went good, tried it at 14' it went good, went 15, 17, 18 then 18-6 and they're all just stretched out and very stable. I'm not putting a rudder on those 14' because they seem to drive and control, be able to _____(0:04:04.2) with the glide wi...

Last month I interviewed Maui based shaper and surfer Mark Raaphorst, and he discussed the differences between the F14 and F16's along with other boards being used for downwinder stand up paddling. I shared with him my experience using the F16 while doing a downwinder and how the board became faster when it filled with water. He also gave some really good insight into downwind racing. I learned a lot.Transcript: (Scroll down to listen to the interview)Evan Leong: You guys have a new F-14 coming out right?Mark Raaphorst: YesEvan Leong: You know I look it up in the internet, it said that it's 20 lbs. vs. the 28 lbs. for the 16'. Is that accurate?Mark Raaphorst: No. That's 16' is around 26-27 lbs. (17:20). So it's gonna be around 20 or 21 lbs. People can have it with or without steering. It's gonna be an optional steering kit in there, and so the hard board (00:27:6) is the pounds, so without the steering is probably be around 20-21 (lbs.) and with the steering 22 (lbs.).Evan Leong: What's the difference then between F-14, 15, 16, 18, like what would you recommend? (00:42.5)Mark Raaphorst: There is no 15; there is no mold at 18. There are custom boards. It's got to be a hollow mold boards for the F14. At this point, there's only a 10, a 12 and 16 hallow. In the future there will be one more board for the 14. (0:01:01.8)Evan Leong: What's the difference then between 14 and 16 or is it just because the 14 is going to the stock? That stock class?Mark Raaphorst: 14 is 14, 16 is for the 16' in length and the 16' has a different bottom contour. The 14 is gonna have a single concave versus the 16 has a bit of double concave with some V (0:01:26.9) in there. The 14' is gonna have a drop deck of about 2 inches deep, quite a different board, it's got a lower rocker for the 14'. (0:01:38.2)Evan Leong: What would you recommend? 14' vs. 16', are there several conditions?Mark Raaphorst: Yes. Different conditions apply: if you have to go longer distances I'd go with a longer length, the 16' is probably the stock out there, 14 is more manageable, it's gonna be a little lighter if you're a big gentleman or a lady then 16 foot is better because it has higher volume than the 14.Evan Leong: And the 16 now you can get a drop deck too I saw it on the website (0:02:7.3)Mark Raaphorst: Yes.Evan Leong: Is that a molded one?Mark Raaphorst: That's molded. I basically created a big insert into the mold that sits in there.Evan Leong: Are you finding that more people are getting the drop deck?Mark Raaphorst: If people are willing to take a bit of a new approach, yes, but it makes the board a lot more stable with the drop deck.Evan Leong: Yesterday I did a downwinder from Hawaii Kai to Kaimana on F-16 and then it was really bumpy out by black point (0:02:56.9) I flipped over and the plug fell out at the back and then it filled a bit with water, and it's just like the hardest part of the run and I got water, but it made it faster.Mark Raaphorst: Sometimes is does.Evan Leong: I was having so much momentum at that point, it would punch through everything in the front and I just kept going, like it was my fastest split [time] so I was tripping out (0:03:21.1). It doesn't make sense.Mark Raaphorst: Well you might have been lucky with three compartments inside the board it might have been stuck in the center part, a lot of it. But if you have it on the side it makes the board tippier. It has three strong decks, one center and two where you're standing and maybe the water is stuck in that middle compartment. (0:03:46:.6)Evan Leong: I was draining it for a while when I got out of the water but I was surprised, the weight makes a difference. (0:03:53.2)Mark Raaphorst: Yes.Even Leong: But I've been trying to figure, it's the lightness, this carbon lightness that's been helping, I don't know. This whole downwinder thing is a bit tricky for me. What kind of advice do you ha

[singlepic=4854,188,125]I got a chance to interview the legendary Donald Takayama over the phone. At 65, Donald Takayama is still going strong. He started his career of making boards at age 11, became a shaper, surfer and still proves to be the master of style and technique. Takayama discusses his board designs, quality, and craftsmanship which led him to the aloha spirit of manufacturing. He muses over his innovations and high performance surfboards, and the reasons why he continues to create boards which he personally engineers from choice of wood on to the entire production process.Donald discusses the quality, style and design of his boards which led him to the surfboard manufacturing industry with Surftech. Initially using redwood to build his own, Takayama now has engineered all the boards using his 56 years of surfboard building experience, with genuine shapes and designs. Takayama also touched his life, near death experience and how he re-surfaced to being the surf icon that he is.Transcript: (Scroll down to listen to the interview)Evan Leong: Did you initially come up with a design for [your stand up board] like a 10rsquo;3rdquo;? (00:05)Donald Takayama: No, no as a whole I designed one and I felt based on the different lengths, theyrsquo;re very comparable to one another. When I did design these boards, I made them on just regular Styrofoam with the thought in mind as far as how theyrsquo;re going to work. The displacement, the width, the thickness has to be compatible with someone you know like 170 pounds and I scaled it up. What I also did in the designhellip;I built these two boardshellip;one for Noah [Shimabukuro] and one for Kai [Salas].Irsquo;ve been building the boards for a long time and at one point in my life I used to stand up on my board and ride it down the Ala Wai Canal and let the trade winds blow me and then I see it to the 2x2 or 1x2 and itrsquo;s a paddle down in the yacht harbor thatrsquo;s in between the boats and then Irsquo;d go out to Ala Moana and go surf. And with the design and the thought of standing up you know itrsquo;s probably displacement and first itrsquo;s based on your profile of the board with applying hydro dynamics to it you know how the boards and the floatation factor to where itrsquo;s going to pivot and where to put the width and everything so itrsquo;ll perform like a long board and surfboard. No pun intended, but Irsquo;ve seen these guys build these boards really super wide and thatrsquo;s great for catching waves but not really getting parallel with the wave. I tried to design the boards to perform, for hanging ten, for doing cut backs and just doing power turns off the bottom. Just like high performance but not going overboard, and something that you can actually really ride the surf with. The width, I scaled it up from the 9rsquo;3rdquo; and with that thought in mind, the taller, heavier people and lanky people, really tall people, how to accommodate the design, one particular design but in different levels. One design can accommodate all the different heights to weight ratios of people, aside from that, using the 2+1 fin design concept for turning in and for really holding in and waves and stuff. (03:13)Evan Leong: So you like that 2+1? Actually what I did recently is I changed out the 2+1 and I put 4 frac12;rdquo; True Ames [fins] on the side as well as the middle. And I kind of liked that better. 03:24Donald Takayama: Well it kind of works okay but when you really want to hit off the bottom it turns good. But when you really want to get to that tip and really hang ten, you need a deeper center fin or if the tail just comes sliding out. And these guys, Noah and Kai, theyrsquo;re coming off the bottom, blasting to the top getting air. 03:52Evan Leong: You mean on the stand ups? 03:55Donald Takayama: Well I chose the Surftech technology; it shows the lightness of the board and the durability. Itrsquo;s a ...

Here's a short video clip of Joe Blair helping me touch up my board. The part with the spray paint is from a repair needed from hitting the reef and busting out my fin box. I got the board fixed but didn't get any color at their suggestion. Needless to say, it looked ugly on the bottom.When Joe was on Oahu in March he looked at it and his shaper instinct forced him to fix it. He went and found the matching color in spray paint and I shot a quick video of him doing the touch up.(click thumbnail to launch video)

[singlepic=4465,188,125]DaKine came out with a coiled stand up paddle leash designed for downwind runs or touring. The coils have a larger diameter than others I've seen and used and the leash cord is thicker.This is a dedicated downwind or touring leash because it stays nicely out of the water but if you wiped out on a wave with it the chances of it balling up are pretty high.I've been trying out different leashes for downwinders lately after trying a really short (6 feet I think) leash on Todd Bradley's C4 Vortice XP. I really liked that because when I fell off it was easy to pull the board back.The downfall to a short leash is that if you don't fall away from the board there's a good chance of hitting it like I did before while surfing. I've also tried another coiled leash I got from Wet Feet and that was really good until I tried surfing with it and it became a huge ball. I was able to unravel it after but I haven't had good results with coiled leashed in the surf yet.What I really like about the DaKine leashes in general is that they are very well made. The cuff fits comfortably and the swivel works good after months of use. The rail saver is a wider one that seems to do no damage to the rail.I like the short leash option for downwinders although I'm liking the coiled option more each time I use it.(click thumbnail to launch video)[gallery=121]

[singlepic=2861,188,125] Dave Chun of Kialoa Paddles answers questions about paddling technique, paddle design and performance, his all-new Shaka Puu paddle, and general concerns about the stand up paddle surf culture. Dave also talks about choosing the right paddle, which all boils down to intuition that tells what type of paddle is best for the stand up paddle surfer.We get to learn more about paddles and why design and performance are always relative to individual surfers.The is the third and last installment of the Shaka Puu three-part series where Dave mentions that "paddle design is a compromise".(click thumbnail to launch video)Evan Leong: hellip;from the Shaka Puu, the bottom is really flat. You donrsquo;t put any dihedral whatsoever on that. Whatrsquo;s your thought on that? Does it still track straight?Dave Chun: I think dihedrals are good. I think paddles without dihedrals are good. I never try to make the ultimate paddle. All paddle designhellip; all design is a compromise. The paddle, the ones we sent to Mel, and all of our other products for guys like Blane Chambers and stuff, they like to paddle that way. Their reports were, ldquo;Donrsquo;t change a thingrdquo;. So thatrsquo;s why there is no dihedral on this paddle. Therersquo;s some paddles on our line that have a dihedral. Our Nalu paddle hasa dihedral. Generally speaking, the larger thehellip; I donrsquo;t know if it works, to be honest with you because if you look at the paddle, this doesnrsquo;t have a dihedral. This one has a dihedral but itrsquo;s way up here. Remember I said the paddle strokes start down here, so the paddle starts way down here and it gets way up here. Itrsquo;s supposed to stabilize the paddle. I donrsquo;t know if it works or not. Sometimes my racers tell me the dihedral works, I put it on the design. They tell me, ldquo;No needrdquo;, and it doesnrsquo;t have it, I leave it out. I take a pretty simplistic approach to this stuff.Evan Leong: So yoursquo;re doing a lot of custom paddles then. Itrsquo;s not production going out or you make them yourself?Dave Chun: The custom paddles, those are the R#38;D stuff. Thatrsquo;s what I do for a year, and what we do is a simpler tooling. Something I need to do fast and dirty. When I say fast and dirty thatrsquo;s probably a hundred hours or so to get the mold done. Irsquo;m pretty quick at this point because I have done a lot of tools. For about a year, we see how it goes, do a little market testing, do a lot of feedback from our guys. If it works, we bring it back in and we do our production tooling and that is a much more permanent... actually builds a better part for the customer.Evan Leong: These are the questions I got from the guys on the Internet. First guy is asking. He is just getting in to this sport. He is curious about the pros and cons on elbowed or bent paddles at the blade. Are they better for surfing and then what angles are people using and things about that?Dave Chun: The bent shaft paddle was originally designed by a guy named Eugene Jensen. He was a flat-runner marathon canoeist. Jensen was a brilliant manhellip; and also a fantastic canoe designer, open-canoes. A lot of innovations come from this guy ndash;got to give him credit. Is it better? Itrsquo;s up to the guy. No magic really comes from your paddle. Itrsquo;s really how it feels. I can see the pros and cons of both of the paddles. The angle of the paddle actually is for the mid to the back part of the stroke. Paddle works best for shorthellip; becausehellip;Evan Leong: That one right there is really shorthellip; with the green thing.Dave Chun: If you look at the angle of the paddle, itrsquo;s basically arched at 10 degrees. Why 10 degrees? Because we have tried five, seven, 10, 15 when we originally did this thing and a guy said, ldquo;Build it with a 10rdquo;. Ok, that was that. But the paddle has more tracti...

[singlepic=2860,188,125] Dave Chun of Kialoa Paddles answers questions about paddling technique, paddle design and performance, his all-new Shaka Puu paddle, and general concerns about the stand up paddle surf culture. Dave also talks about choosing the right paddle, which all boils down to intuition that tells what type of paddle is best for the stand up paddle surfer.We get to learn more about paddles and why design and performance are always relative to individual surfers.In this video, Dave looks at the dimensions of the Shaka Puu paddle and talks briefly about the absence of data that could help in determining which paddle is right for the individual. Right now, he Dave says, the best way to find out what type of paddle is ideal for the surfer is to go out and try different designs and see what suits best.(click thumbnail to launch video)Evan Leong: Mel Puu is a big dude, so he is using, even this paddle at 8 and frac34;, it seems a little bit wide when you look at the normal dimensions in other onesmdash;8 frac12; or so on. But the shape of this is different. It only gets 8 and frac34; at the bottom, and it goes to 8 inches and lower pretty quickly. Does that help it move through across the water faster orhellip;?Dave Chun: It is easier on him. Now itrsquo;s probably good technique. He is a canoe paddler, and exceptional canoe paddler, so he already have that in place. The better technique, the more efficient you get in to the water. Wersquo;re not going in to paddle technique and stuff like that, it is enough said that he has got good technique. The other thing is you only need enough traction to get on the wave. (_____), another guy who uses my stuff, he is six- or seven-time world champion one-man guy and he told me something once that has always stuck with me. He said, ldquo;I only need enough speed to get on a swell.rdquo; So you trim the paddle as much as you can so itrsquo;s the smallest paddle you possibly can use. A big paddle fatigues you quite a bit. Thatrsquo;s the thing about paddles, the paddle that you are fastest with at a five-minute mark is not the paddle yoursquo;re going to be fastest with after an hour or two hours. Once again, that is one of the difficulties in obtaining data on what is the ultimate paddle because the duration of the vent dictates a lot of times what you need. Surfing tends to be soft start, but guys go off for really long sessions, right? Thatrsquo;s why theyrsquo;re gravitating towards really smaller paddle. Maybe it feels small on the first stroke but on the 10,000ths of the day itrsquo;s probably exactly right. No, probably earlier than that buthellip;Evan Leong: So with the new paddle, Melrsquo;s huge, what about smaller guys, 190, 170?Dave Chun: Itrsquo;ll be fine. This isnrsquo;thellip; I donrsquo;t get too much in to fine tuning of a paddle thinking that yoursquo;re really going to find the ultimate thing. Everybodyrsquo;s is different for one thing. I havenrsquo;t been able to find any kind of data to support big guy, small guy, fit guy, out of shape guy, for what people like. Really the only way to find out what paddle is right for you, is to go out and try it. Thatrsquo;s where we offer demo programs to shops. Shops can purchase demos from us and we like that. I like you to buy my paddles but ultimately we want people to be happy in the sport, to buy the right thing. If itrsquo;s one of my competitors and theyrsquo;re totally happy with it, thatrsquo;s good because the main thing is theyrsquo;re out there promoting the sport and thatrsquo;s good for all of us. If more surfershellip; well, if yoursquo;re a surfer, you donrsquo;t want tons of guys in the line up but itrsquo;s another issue.Evan Leong: So your shafts, I notice I mean I really like this shaft. I told you it reminded me of my high-end kayak paddle. And the weave, it looks super nice and itrsquo;s super light.Dave Chun: Yeah, itr...

[singlepic=2857,125,188] Dave Chun of Kialoa Paddles answers questions about paddling technique, paddle design and performance, his all-new Shaka Pu'u paddle, and general concerns about the stand up paddle surf culture. Dave also talks about choosing the right paddle, which all boils down to intuition that tells what type of paddle is best for the stand up paddle surfer.We get to learn more about paddles and why design and performance are always relative to individual surfers.In the first of this three-part interview, Dave takes us through the process of building paddles and how they test the durability and strength of their products. He also compares the Shaka Pu'u to the Nalu.(click thumbnail to launch video)Evan Leong: I remembered we talked about this new paddle yoursquo;ve got, can you hold up the Shaka Puu, right?Dave Chun: This onersquo;s named to honor Mel for helping us so much with the design to check off on this thing. Because I live in Oregon, in flat water, I donrsquo;t have any way of really testing my product. Usually what we do in our shop, how we develop a product is we get an idea, we talk to the guys, they tell me things and then my job is to interpret what they are saying. Irsquo;ll build paddles and maybe sometimes (____). Irsquo;ll send them out to the guys and theyrsquo;ll tell me which ones they like. Right off the start, when Mel got this he was calling back the next day, ldquo;Holy smokes this one is a good one. I like it.rdquo; So what we did is we continue to test it because we have to make sure it is durable. We donrsquo;t like our stuff to snap, like I say, I donrsquo;t like that with a disclaimer on my product. We usually test for about a year. One time on the surf is not going to tell you anything about durability. Thatrsquo;s really something only over time you get to learn. We do have stuff that we do in house where we break the stuff. We call some of this the ldquo;Boeing Wing Testrdquo;, watched on Discovery Channel breaking a wing on a 747. Thatrsquo;s where we developed that test from. Theirs is littlehellip; not littlehellip; much more sophisticated than our method but basically we just hang a whole bunch of weight off the end of the paddle and see where it snaps. Because I have been doing this a long time, I have a lot of data on how much weight a paddle should be able to suspend, which I wonrsquo;t give you because I donrsquo;t want the other paddle makers to figure how much weight is enough put on a paddle.Evan Leong: So you guys are actually pretty high-tech then?Dave Chun: High-tech in a low-tech way. Paddle making, this isnrsquo;t big business, itrsquo;s not like wersquo;re making computers that everybody in the world has to have. We have a very small niche market so numbers are small. Even though people say stand up surf is exploding, itrsquo;s not like some of the other types of things. We try to be as sophisticated as we can. We understand also that there is a lot of errors involved in what we do.Evan Leong: How do you think that this stand up surf industry is comparing to the OC-1, one-man canoe industry?Dave Chun: I think it has a broader application. I think the surf culture is something more people know about and somewhat gravitate to. I think there is a lot of ex-surfers on the mainland, on land lock places like Iowa, have a beautiful broaden water on the lake and stand up might be a great way to reconnect with their surfing roots maybe even train a little bit for that trip they make to Hawaii once a year. I think it is a good thing.Evan Leong: So what is the difference this Shaka Puu and then your other paddle blades and then maybe whatever other people are using and so on?Dave Chun: I just give an example. Irsquo;ll just take probably the most popular paddle. This is the Nalu. By the way I was named after my dog. We no longer have that dog but that's how you get a paddle named after...

[singlepic=4490,188,125]I bought a DaKine board bag for a friend for Christmas which turned out to be the best present he got last year. The bag was for a 9' longboard but that gave me insight into the quality of these bags. For the first 3 months of 2008 we drove to the north shore quite a bit and this bag really came in handy.It was so handy that I had to get one for myself and here it is. The good thing for me is that I think the SUP Board Bag has more features than the one I got him for Christmas.I got the 10'4" version to hold my 8'9". It fits nice and snug and keeps my car from getting wet after a session. It's also not too heavy. I really like the reinforced handle on the bag. That extra support comes in handy from such a big board to carry.SUP Board Bag comes in 10'4", 11'0" and 12'3" and retails for $180-, $190- and $200-Available at Tropical Blends Surf and Wet Feet Hawaii.Features:Durable white tarpaulin to with heat reflective tarpaulin bottom3/8" Foam for maximum protectionHeavy duty corrosion proof wrap around zipper with internal protectionSidewall compression cinch strapsPaddle HandlePadded removable shoulder strap with stash pocketWax pocket(click thumbnail to launch video)[gallery=123]

[singlepic=4350,188,125]I donrsquo;t have any good excuse why this took so long to post. First off, a BIG Mahalo (Thank You) to Bill (Pono Bill), Diane, Bob (stoneaxe) and Sue for treating me like family. I had the best time and really enjoyed getting to know everyone. I hope I wasnrsquo;t too much of a hassle. Irsquo;m not a morning person and did my best.That said, the weekend was such a blast. I got to Maui pretty late and was hungry so I stopped off at Jacques to eat. After some sushi I got the Billrsquo;s Pono House around 10 pm. Bill and Diane were busy working to organize the rating forms for the board test. He had a couple vans, a jeep and a SUV already loaded up with tons of stand up paddle gear. I went to sleep around midnight and Bill and Diane stayed up to finish preparing.We got up at 4:45 am to drive an hour to Lahaina to setup. It was freezing cold which in Hawaii means somewhere below 70 degrees. I drove the jeep which had open windows and rear so I kept on the heater to help me out. We got to the beach and it was somewhere around 6 am and still pitch dark. You can see from the pictures that we started setting up in darkness.It seemed like forever before people arrived but when they did everything moved many times faster. I was amazed at how many boards there were. I think it was around 50 or so but not sure. We had a great time and I got to try 14 new boards. I was dead tired and looked at my watch to see that it was only 11 am. I got to meet a lot of cool people and even hung out a bit with Rand and Chan from www.StandUpZone.com. Rand is a good surfer but thatrsquo;s not what impressed me. Although hersquo;s skinny, Rand can eat like 3 adult men. I watched him eat kalua pig, rice, salad, chips, cookies and was totally amazed. I eat a lot but Rand can beat me with no problem. The difference is that I just look at food and my butt gains 10 lbs while Rand maintains his fit physique.The next day I joined Bill, Diane, Bob and Sue at Kanaha and was planning to go visit a friend later in Lahaina. My flight was scheduled to leave at 6 pm so I thought I had enough time. The surf at Kanaha looked pretty good from shore but it was a fairly decent paddle to the break. The wind was light and conditions were beautiful. The sky was blue. I was curious about the Surftech Takayama 10rsquo;7rdquo; that I rode the day before because on small waves I couldnrsquo;t tell if the board was special or not.I caught some head high waves and was instantly impressed by the Tak. It turned on a dime. I was able to nose ride it. It paddled good. The board is sweet. The Kanaha wave is a slow wave but it has juice. I had a blast. We even saw Jimmy Lewis out there on his stand up board and the guy from Lightning Bolt. Rand and Chan were also out there although Chan paddled in when we were coming out. Rand was on a small board that I managed to duck dive while standing on it the day before. Itrsquo;s an interesting experience to duck dive a stand up board.I ended up going out for 2 sessions that day and rushing to catch my flight with wet clothes in my bag. What a fun trip. I hope Bill and Diane continue to do this event and I hope to be able to make it again in the future.Check out Billrsquo;s board test results at www.kenalu.com. Bill also has a sweet blog at http://www.ponohouse.com/ponoblog. Check it out.(click thumbnail to launch video)[gallery=111]

[singlepic=4472,188,125]I got my hands on 2 DaKine paddle bags for stand up paddles. I'm glad DaKine came out with a padded travel bag because it was pretty hard to find a travel bag that offered enough protection to go through the airline baggage process for my Maui trip to Pono Bill's board test.The padded bag is made from heavy duty nylon and has a 1/4" foam padding. It can fit 2 paddles comfortably and has a nice big zipper. The SUP knit bag is pretty self explanatory. It's the same knit material as in the surf socks and has a drawstring closure on the paddle blade side.Both bags are $35 retail and can be bought at Tropical Blends Hawaii and Wet Feet Hawaii.Check out the video and pictures for a good view.Features for Padded Bag:Fits up to two paddlesDurable 600D polyester1/4" foam paddingHeavy duty corrosion proof zipperAdjustable shoulder strap/ handle.Adjustable 70-84"(click thumbnail to launch video)[gallery=122]

[singlepic=4457,125,188]There's been some talk about hydration bags for stand up paddling and especially for long cruises or downwind runs. There are a number of choices out there although this is the first one I found that is water sports specific.This pack is very minimalist in that you have only what you need. There aren't a ton of mini pockets and material you won't use. The DaKine Waterman Hydration Pack is designed to be lightweight, unobtrusive and functional. That's exactly what you get.There's an ingenious device in the sternum clip on this pack. The clip has a built in high pitch whistle. This is great if when you're out at sea and the waves dampen any yelling or screaming you can produce.You bite on the nozzle and suck the water out like other packs. I have not used other hydration packs before so I have nothing to personally compare it to but I don't think I need to because I really like how the DaKine one works.I need to get in some water time with this pack and then post an update.Specs:70 oz. [ 2L ] Wide mouth reservoir Molded drain plug Lightweight nylon/mesh constructionAvailable at Wet Feet Hawaii www.wetfeethawaii.com(click thumbnail to launch video)[gallery=120]