Paddle Boarding

Mmmm. There's an idea We could call it WindSUPing...or something like that

Another ex Hayling windsurfer here, spent half my younger days down there. Epic jumping on a good day.

There was 6 or 7 People doing wing foiling - looked incredible…maybe it’s the new windsurfing?

Got chatting to a few of them, apparently it’s not as hard as it looks.

Switzerland.

I got my first SUP at the end of Summer - Have packed it away for winter as I haven't got a wet suit but really enjoyed the 5-6 outings I managed to get in.

Phone case was wet so poor photos but there's a cool little cave you can paddle into at Old Harry's Rocks in Dorset. Nice little route from one of the nearby beaches - got very choppy, definitely above my standing abilities which are otherwise OK. I even managed to fall off a few times sat down.

Another bonus, seagull managed to drop a bomb on me out of all of the sea it had to choose from.

You do need to be mindful of wakes in there, the cross channel ferries can make it pretty lively.

Nice! I did a wing foiling course last year out of Sandbanks so was very close but had no idea!

MAIB report for the Haverfordwest disaster is out:
https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/commerical-stand-u...

Such an awful tragedy and one that should never have happened. Common sense says you should avoid weirs at all costs. I don't know the area so I don't know what warning signs exist telling people about the weir. But even without signage, a simple reccy of the area would be the sensible thing to do. I only SUP on the sea but I always check where I'm going on various marine charts.

Safety is vitally important with every sport of course but I'd hate to see SUP'ing become too heavily regulated. If it's an 'organised' event or 'paid for' SUP lessons by a watersports school, then ok, H&S should be part of the teaching. I also think that some basic safety instructions should be provided at the POS (the importance of using a leash and the sort of leash to use relative to where you intend to SUP for example). The problem is that too many SUP's can be bought from retailers who have absolutely no knowledge about the sport which I would argue makes the sport too accessible for complete novices. I mentioned elsewhere in this thread that I witnessed a family (man, woman and two young kids) venturing out to sea on a SUP (all four of them on one SUP) without using a leash and in very difficult windy, choppy conditions. I spoke to them and gave them some advice but it was clear they had no clue about the dangers. They were asking for trouble.

Thanks. I must admit to only reading the summary. It's true that conditions change so whatever reccy was done on the previous day, you should always reassess things on the day you go out and don't be afraid to cancel your trip. I've been at the waters edge, all ready to go but have changed my mind because of the prevailing conditions on the day.

All watersports are potentially dangerous but SUP'ing has become a little too accessible as I said in my previous post. That only adds to the danger.

It would be wrong to comment here on this forum about the circumstances that led to this tragedy but it seems like it could have been prevented.