In this session Nick and Simon chat with the editor of SUP Mag UK Tez Plavenieks about how to make the right choice when you are buying your first board. Stand up paddle is the fastest growing watersport worldwide and something that Laird Hamilton predicted “will be bigger than surfing”. This means that there is a growing number of beginners joining the sport, some of whom have never surfed or even been on the water before. Tez uses his long experience of testing boards to explain the choices available and gives some important reminders for anyone at any level looking to buy a new board.

In this episode we cover

• Hayling Island and the godfather of windsurfing Pete Chilvers
• When Tez met SUP and his first time on a board
• How he became the editor of SUP Mag UK
• Tez’s board and kit testing experience
• Basic advice to newbies when buying a board – keep it simple.
• Width, thickness & size
• Inflatables
• Demo Days
• Women in SUP
• Board Disciplines
• Fishing & Adventure Paddling

Links & Resources

• SUP Mag UK
• RedPaddle.com US and Rest Of World Red Paddle.co.uk (UK)
• Fat Stick Paddle Boards (UK)
• Wake surfing on a SUP in Alaska (Video)
• UK based waterman
• Tez Plavenieks defies gravity on his windsurfer
• Another board testing session…living the dream.

Mentioned in this episode:

The SUPfm SUP Safety Course

Designed for beginner and intermediate level leisure paddlers we deliver the right safety topics, delivered with the appropriate level of detail. The course aims to help you become more confident and self-sufficient when you’re making your personal safety decisions.

Course