The bags are packed, the roof rack is on, the excitment is mounting and all I need is some SUP talent in the water ! Tonight stand up paddle boarders and stand up paddle surfers from all over the UK will converge on Newquay in Cornwall ready for the first ever dedicated Stand Up Paddle boarding/surfing competition in Watergate Bay on Saturday morning.
The fun starts from 9.30am, the forecast looks pretty good with various websites showing
a clean 2-4ft wave, perfect ! The competition is now full, but come along and have a look. If you
can’t make it don’t worry, we will be
there armed with a video camera and a full review will be posted next week.
I heard on the grapevine that escape have been making more environmentally friendly
surfboards for a while now and so I got in touch with Bill and Charlie to find out somemore. What I did’nt realise, which I think is really exciting, is that escape can make a custom SUP using bio blanks and eco resin. Considering how environmentally unfriendly standard surfboards and stand up paddle surf boards are this is great news, and even better - its from a British company. Below is some information from Charlie, I intend to pop into the factory in October and do a full feature on these guys.
Escape Surfboards are based in North Cornwall and been manufacturing and testing a new range of Stand Up Paddle Boards ( SUP ). This sport has a long history but has become popular due to surfers like Liard Hamilton bringing it to the attention of the media. But you don’t need to be a pro surfer to enjoy it just going out for a paddle is fun and a good work out. As for surfing you only need a small swell line to have a ride or you can take it on and push yourself as far as you want. Some surfers are riding double over head barreling waves on them or getting smaller boards made for a more progressive style of surfing. Its now huge in Hawaii , America , Oz and now England has the bug too.Its fun , progressive and keeps you fit so have a go.
Escape now stock SUP,s , pads and paddles we can also do custom orders in Epoxy , Bio Foam or standered. The other thing we are excited about are the Eco Boards we are making. We can manufacture any style board from a 12′ SUP to a 6′.0″ Performance short board using Bio Foam blanks that are 40% plant based and for the laminating we use Eco Resin that’s 94% plant based all from Cornish based companies. Now you have an affordable more eco friendly alternative to the other boards on the market, So you can order your Custom Eco Board from Escape and feel good about it. Well done you.
You can contact escape on 01208 863898 or 01208 863962. The escape website is good place to learn more as well.
Here are some pictures of escape products in action.
I found this nice footage on youtube while checking out the latest Stand up paddle surfing videos, looks interesting and the surfing footage is good.
REAL Kiteboarding is excited to announce the release of our newest instructional DVD, Standup Paddleboarding! Over a year in the making and shot in locations such as Hawaii, British Virgin Islands, and on much of the East Coast, this DVD will teach you what you need to introduce yourself to the world of standup.
Andy Cooper from airhead surf shop in Rustington has got the first lot of C4 Stand up paddle boards in the UK. Andy took it for a test and wrote up the results on his blog here. I am looking forward to checking this board out, for more info get in touch with the airhead crew.
