Stand Up Paddle Surfing Paddles, Boards and Accessories

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History

todd bradley and hokulea
Todd Bradley and Hokulea
The sport of Standup Paddling, also known as "Beachboy Surfing", is regaining momentum at Makaha and Waikiki, and now spreading all over the world, to California, Australia, and even Europe. The sport is a great core workout and fun to do. As a past Canoe Champion and Surfer, I am very involved in the sport myself, both for exercise and fun; and I've been working with those involved in Hawaii to further this great new paddle sport.

A little history:

Back in the 60's the Beachboys in Waikiki, like Duke and Leroy AhChoy, started standing up on big surfboards, using long paddles to maneuver.  At times  they would take a camera with them, and take pictures of tourists. It caught on with the other beachboys, as well as the kids growing up in Waikiki (such as myself). The sport later died out with the introduction of shorter, lighter, fiberglass boards, but Leroy was out as long as his age allowed him.

brian keaulana makaha joss
Brian Keaulana at Makaha by Joss
The sport had a renaissance during Retro movement. The Maui guys, Laird Hamilton, and Dave Kalama, and the Makaha Beachboys (Brian Keaulana, Bruce DeSoto & Mel Puu) began doing it again for exercise, training their core & legs for tow-in surfing, and for the pure enjoyment of the sport. Stand-up gives a paddling advantage, allowing them to catch waves early, a great help in the crowds at Makaha and in Waikiki. They also found that when surfing with these boards, the paddle could be used to help carve into turns, improving the maneuverability of the long boards they used.

 

lance hookano freesurf
Lance Hookano
With its growing popularity at Makaha beach, Brian Keaulana decided to add "Beachboy Surfing" to the world-recognized "Buffalo Big Board Contest" in 2004. The response was overwhelming, with over 49 participants entering the Stand-up division, which included many of Hawaii's elite waterman and past world champion surfers, using Pohaku Beachboy paddles.

archie kalepa
Archie Kalepa Molokai Channel
The boundaries of the sport were pushed further by my good friend Archie Kalepa in 2004, when he was the first to cross the Molokai Channel solo on a Standup paddleboard during the Quicksilver Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard race. (time: 6hrs; UGG!) His effort inspired us to start "downwind " paddling runs, and to begin holding the Hennessey World Championship Paddleboard race on Oahu (Hawaii Kai to Waikiki , 10miles). It offers a Standup division with Prize money.

A Division of Team Standup Crossing was added to the Quicksilver Molokai to Oahu race in July of 2005; this race brought together a field of 9 paddlers, and was won by the team of Myself and Brian Keaulana, finishing 10th overall in the Paddleboard field with a time of 5:18 mins. 2nd place was the team of Archie Kalepa & Dave Parmenter less then 3 minutes behind.

 

Last Updated ( Friday, 30 November 2007 )
 
John Zapotocky
A Special Place in Beach Boy Surfing History

 

john zabotocky
John Zabotocky
John Zapotocky first came to Hawaii in 1940 , promptly fell in love with the ocean, and made his life there from that day on. He started Beachboy surfing in the 40's, after seeing Duke and the other Beachboys on stand-up boards, and has been surfing with a paddle ever since. He was a regular athlete and competitor in those days, including swimming, diving, paddleboard and canoe racing. The the Beachboys of Old gave this new Waikiki charger the nickname of "Pearl Diver".

john zabotacky John is the oldest BBS surfer in the world, and the oldest regular surfer in Waikiki. John still goes out BBS in Waikiki a few times a week, and is an icon to the modern-day Beachboys. He keeps his board in one of the racks on the beach in Waikiki-- and has for 60 years. With the help of the younger Beachboys, his board gets into the water, and he is right at home once he's paddling.

Image John is amazing, enjoying this sport of Kings despite two artificial knees, bones, and his age; he credits his good health to the ocean, and the sport of Standup Beachboy Surfing. His wife is Ann, an avid ocean swimmer, and a great athlete in her own right. They will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary soon. More Vintage Videos and pics of John are coming soon, but for now see him in action by clicking the play button on the video clip below (Quicktime plug-in required).

 

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Three generations of Paddlesurfers
 

Last Updated ( Monday, 08 February 2010 )
 
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