Growing popularity in the Downwind side of foiling has shown a distinct lack of paddling skills in the majority of users - including ourselves - maybe getting the kit out in some waves to SUP foil will help aid progression there, while also increasing our overall foil skills and adding another discipline to our repertoire.
We've not had the best summers of wind the last couple years either, which means theres a lot of foiling kit sat around not doing very much a lot of the time. Pump foiling has shown us one way of getting out on the water still while the wind isn't blowing - now a resurgence in SUP Foiling is showing us another.
Skillsets
The driving force behind the foil discipline in the UK is more commonly the Wing Scene - who's entrants mostly come from the wind side of things - Windsurfing/Sailing/Kitesurfing. I appreciate we are generalising massively, but it would seem the most of these users have spent relatively little time paddle boarding in the open water. Those who come from a more paddle board and kayak background stand a very good chance of picking up the downwind discipline quicker than any of us Wing Wangers.
These things combined means there is likely to be more and more people paddling around in the flat water and in the waves on the setups they already own to get some experience, ready for when the winds start blowing in the right directions for downwind.
There also seems to be a realisation aside from anything downwind focussed, that the kit that customers are learning to wing on is also almost perfectly suited to SUP surf Foiling. We have well volumed boards and large, stable lifting foils that suit smaller waves - perfect!
SUP Surfing Benefits
Small waves, caught further out and usually much further away from the hoards of surfers in a line up. These reasons make for a nice chilled summer surf when the wind is too light for winging. Spots with long paddle outs suddenly become far more accessible as you're not having to paddle the whole way on a surfboard laying down with little to no surf fitness - the SUP paddle make covering this distance far simpler and less exhausting.
In conclusion!
This post is half about the fact there is already a minor resurgence into SUP Surf thats popping its head up, but also that we are suggesting its well worth getting involved in that resurgence! SUP Surfing is a relatively easy sport to get into, and we've already got the kit we need for it.
We're all after more time on the water and in the waves, its a no brainer!
