Su Weeks – Adventure Paddler
Su Weeks, a paddler from the HAWKES BAY has completed some incredible long distance SUP adventures over the last eight months, circumnavigating the Tory Channel, Queen Charlotte Sound, Pelorus and Kenepuru Sounds in her ‘SUP the Sounds’ adventure, completing a total of 1100kms including a crossing of the Cook Strait! And that was not the end of Su’s adventures on a SUP this year. As soon as she completed the Marlborough sounds, she headed straight across the ditch (by plane not SUP!) and completed an unsupported paddle of the Murray River from Echuca (a good starting point beyond the white water) to where the river meets Lake Alexandrina in South Australia, a total of 1600kms of solo paddling. Jacqui Simpson spoke to Su about her incredible adventures; When did you first get into long distance adventure paddling?I initially decided to Sup the Queen Charlotte Sounds in 2023 as something to
Planning Your Paddleboarding
This text is extracted from Book 3 of the SUP SAFETY – How to stay safe on your stand-up paddleboard series by Bill Dawes, available in Kindle or paperback form from Amazon – for Kiwi purchasers see the details at the bottom of the blog. In our next few blog posts we will be publishing further extracts from the books, looking at particular emergency situations and how to deal with them. However, if you really want to learn everything you can about being safe on your stand up paddleboard, we’d thoroughly recommend checking out the books for yourself. There are four very distinct cornerstones of SUP safety. We’ll be talking much more about all these in future blogs. Today we’re going to kick off with the first on the list, which for some reason gets very little attention but is a vital part of the process. Proper planning is always
Youth Class SUP Board
Increasing youth participation in stand up paddleboarding in New Zealand is extremely high priority for NZSUP, for the following reasons: SUP is a fun and engaging activity for youngsters Engaging with youth is a great way to grow the sport at grass-roots level It gives an excellent opportunity to drive home vital safety messages It gives an opportunity to talent-spot and identify those who might be keen to get involved in competition. It fits in with the current emphasis from Sport New Zealand on targeting youth participation in sport. Because various clubs and organisations around New Zealand are looking to create or expand their own youth paddling programmes, NZSUP has established a specific Youth Board Class and event format, to aid and simplify the development process. Download this document for the full spec and rationale.
Learn to Coach SUP
Are you interested in learning how to help other people progress in SUP? There are many options in SUP teaching and coaching, from operating a commercial paddleboarding school to private coaching, working with youngsters, or simply just being the ‘go to’ person in your local paddling community for advice and help in skills progression. Anyone with reasonable paddleboarding skills can become a coach. If you love your paddleboarding, enjoy working with people and would like to help others progress (which can be at any level from beginner upwards), then you’re ideal coach material! NZSUP is keen to run some training courses to give would-be instructors and coaches the skills and knowledge to help others progress their paddleboarding. What we need to know is whether there is sufficient interest, and if so, where we should focus our efforts. If the interest is there, then the plan will be to build
Carrying Comms on your SUP
In many parts of New Zealand it is now a legal requirement to carry comms on your SUP, so that you can call for help if necessary. Which makes total sense, since every year our emergency services have to rescue paddlers being swept offshore by strong winds or currents. (Not just at the coast, there are many rescues on our lakes too). Being able to call for help is a vital part of your safety strategy. This is why it has now become mandatory in many regions of New Zealand, and this summer it will be actively enforced, with fines for non compliant paddlers. Here is an excerpt from the Auckland Regional Navigation Safety Bylaw: A person using a paddle craft of six meters or less in length overall (for example kayak, stand up paddle board or waka) beyond sheltered waters, must [be capable of] communication using two independent forms