Very often I see things written or hear comments about how serious Laird and myself are. Laird on occasion can be very serious as well as myself, but for the most part nothing could be farther from the truth. I’ve posted this picture to illustrate just this point. Let’s face it, stand up paddle surfing is just about one of the most fun things you can do in the world, so why pretend to make it anything other than that.
Longboarding, prior to stand up, was perhaps the easiest way to get on the water and just have fun. I believe that’s because it is more about the gliding across the surface of the water than anything else. Short boarding on the other hand takes on a very different mentality in order to perform. You must be aggressive to surf a short board well, which lends itself to a very different mentality than stand up or longboarding. That’s why so many shortboarders have a tough time taking longboarding or stand up too seriously. Which is just the way it should be. I don’t want people to think I’m down on short boarding because it definitely has it’s place and let’s face it, it’s a huge industry. Plus if it wasn’t for shortboarding, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
I think the fun aspect is perhaps why I’m not that into competition. I really enjoy the good vibe that most sweepers share with each other. With competition at some point you’ve got to put yourself before the other guy and say ” screw you I’m taking this wave”. And for me that could be really tough because I’m related to a few of the top guys (Ekolu, Ikaika, Kainoa). Plus I work with Kai Lenny and Slater Trout and really don’t want to have to burn those guys. That’s not to say competition doesn’t have some positive aspects. It inspires a lot of people to get better , shapers to make more progressive boards, an opportunity to travel, surf great spots and the tops guys get to make a living at what they love, although that’s not much of a living yet.
As you can see from the picture it really doesn’t take to much to keep me entertained. So while we all work to improve our equipment and our techniques, let’s be careful not to take ourselves too seriously. This sport or activity has such a good vibe and camaraderie to it right now, let’s try to make it last as long as possible.