SUP: Are there limits to what a SUP can be ridden in?
ROB: Truthfully I don’t know. There are certainly conditions, places and times with which the number of guys who have the skills, desire and sack to deal with it is very small. But since Chris Bertish won at Mavericks in 2010 we’ve seen incredible performance leaps in regular big wave surfing. Whatever some surfers may think about SUP, there’s a lot of cross pollination between the two so we’re bound to see the limits being pushed.
Until you’ve got a really good level and some solid water skills it’s a pretty hairy thing to get into, I don’t think that you see the benefits until you’ve put the hours in and initially it’s brutal. I reckon a lot of guys get intimidated and so even though things progress it might be at a slower pace. However that might also be a load of speculative rubbish!
SUP: What are your personal goals in big wave paddleboarding?
ROB: I’m not sure if I segregate SUP surfing into big and small waves, it’s really just facets of the same thing for me. My wife and I have wound up our guesthouse in Lanzarote and that’s given us more free time in the winter. I’ve got great backing from Fanatic and ION too so there’s no reason not to get out there. Shamefully I’ve never been to Ireland so I’d love to get a few waves over there. But who knows, ultimately I feel very fortunate to be
learning a new way to catch waves at my age. It keeps you
fresh after 35 years of surfing!
Fuerteventura
Stephane Etienne, Canary Islands Part 2
Stephane Etienne is one of those rugged guys that would be the man to have around if a huge natural disaster left us without thetrappings of modern life. But while the doomsayers are still frustrated, Stephane continues as one of the most accomplished all round water athletes in Europe. Based in Fuerteventura, Stephane and his partnerNicole not only charge on stand ups but windsurf, surf, tow surf, spearfish and generally live a life defined by the ocean. In recent years Stephane has gained quite a reputation for stand up paddling some serious Canarian juice. We asked him about his passion….
SUP: You live in Fuerteventura, can you tell us about the type of big waves that you get down there?
SE: I am lucky to live on a island that gets all type of waves, but most of the waves are reef break. When it gets big we have three or four different waves that hold big size on the north shore;
typically you have a lot of water moving at the take-off zone so you need big guns to get some speed to drop-in; I usually use my Naish hokua 9´8 gun. There are also some good slabs breaking, not that big but very hollow and almost onto dry reef, the local boogie-boarders own those waves and make some huge barrels, so respect to them.
