Tonight’s stroke of the clock at midnight will ring in not only a New Year…but, also a new decade…and, SurfingSports (this website) is turning 10 years old!
That’s a looooong time in internet time…thousands and thousands of boards ago…it’s like 70 dog years…
The wifey will prolly have “When Harry Met Sally” on the DVD for the umpteenth time…well, at least 20 times since it came out 20 years ago in 1989…;-)
“I mean, ‘Should old acquaintance be forgot’? Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot?”…Harry (Billy Crystal)
That was 20 years…2 decades ago…heck, it’s not much easier to get your head around the last 10 years…close your eyes and think back for a moment to 1999…
Wardog and Deb…partying like it’s 1999…;-)
This trivia from Wikipedia might just jog a synapse in the gray matter between the ears…;-)
* Clinton still had over a year to go in office… * Y2K scare… * The Euro currency is introduced… * The Roth IRA is introduced… * Lance Armstrong wins his first Tour de France… * Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia * For the first time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10000 mark…pretty much where it sits today… * Columbine High School massacre… * Napster, a revolutionary music downloading service, debuts… * Apple Computer releases the first iBook… * A plane piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr. crashes, killing him and his wife…
* Santana releases his best selling album Supernatural… * Britney Spears releases her debut album… * Eminem’s The Slim Shady LP is released…
The dotcom bubble hadn’t yet popped…and, the 9/11 disaster was still in the planning stages…
Natural selection always seems to have a way of leveling the playing field…
They can’t escape Warren Buffet’s “Three I’s” rule…there’s a “natural progression” to how good new ideas go wrong…the Innovators, are followed by the Imitators, who are followed by the Idiots…whose greed and avarice are their undoing…the Idiots always get carried out of the game on stretchers…case in point…
“Super Bowl XXXIV in January 2000 featured seventeen dot-com companies that each paid over two million dollars for a thirty-second spot. By contrast, in January 2001, just three dot-coms bought advertising spots during Super Bowl XXXV. In a similar vein, CBS-backed iWon.com gave away ten million dollars to a lucky contestant on an April 15, 2000, half-hour prime time special that was broadcast on CBS.”
Then REALITY hit…and, then it hit again in 2008 with the popping of the housing bubble…
Through it all…we stuck our noses to the grindstone…practiced the “Golden Rule” of treating others like we would want to be treated…incorporating integrity, honesty, and respect into our business practices…and, have made our mom and pop business a success the old fashioned way…the way of the plow horse, not the show horse…hard work…representing only the best value products…and, exceptional customer service…your word of mouth advertising (STOKE) has sustained our retail stoke factory for the last 10 years…and, has made 2009 our best year ever…MAHALO & THANK YOU!!!
From our ohana to yours…may you be blessed with peace and prosperity…health, wealth, and wisdom as our water planet spins around the sun again…hopefully, the goods that we have brought you have made you happier…it’s a good “Catch 22″…no worries…the happier you are, the happier you are…we’ll see you in the next decade…
One of our Central Coast client’s sent this kewl HD vid clip movie of recent action on the Starboard 8’5″ x 30″ “Pocket Rocket”…pretty good for only his 3rd movie…
Here’s Ken’s customized mosaic Pocket Rocket pad job…
The Short, stable and fast shape that changed the perception of SUP shortboarding is still the benchmark in onshore and more mushy conditions. Seamlessly smooth acceleration and lightning top end speed allow you to make the fastest of sections, with the shorter length allowing it to fit into smaller pockets. Stability is enhanced with the wide nose and pulled in tail, utilizing the “Stinger” concept to provide the unique combination of a high performance board, while still being user friendly.
Mono concave nose section runs to double concave back section with fish tail.
Scott McKercher showing that it works pretty good in hollower waves, too…;-)
No wonder it’s the #1 best selling under 9′ SUP in the world…IT WORKS!!!
Starboard SUP, stand up paddle board equipment for paddling, surfing and windsurfing. Leading innovators with the world’s most comprehensive range of shapes and technology options.
Over 27 SUP boards offered in 4 different technologies…simply, do the math peoples!!!
Starboard is leading the way with yet another SUP innovation…the 2010 Starboard 6’6″ x 34″ “Impossible”…
It doesn’t stop there, however…there are so many more Innovations in the oven right now that we haven’t disclosed…the Imitators will NEVER catch up…let alone the Idiots with their greed and avarice…;-)
That’s called the progression of the “three I’s”… I can’t take credit for it…another Warren came up with that…;-)
It’s gonna downright embarrass those companies out there right now that think that they are “kicking ass”…classic textbook case of the emperor gayly sitting on the throne with no shirt on…;-)
After leading the way for the last couple of years with the 7’2″ x 29″ “Kid” wave ripper…it’s pretty amazing this board has stood unchallenged in the marketplace…especially, by companies that think they are the shizzle in small SUP wave boards…high performance paddlesurfing doesn’t stop at 9′…
Our buddy Treve Jones over 2 years ago on the 7’2″…you should see him ride it as a twinfin these days…
Demands for PERFORMANCE, wishes to be floating OVER sections, needing to be able to DRIVE hard off the bottom, a melting pot of bullet points. A thought to attempt what was considered impossible, a realization that it was plausible, a result providing endless supping fun. Welcome the POD (performance overdrive), at 7’4″ x 29.5″ this is an ultimate high performance SUP that places you in to the pocket & lets you surf out. A board designed to push your ability and has you frothing for more action in performance waves, showing you that supping has no curtain call, it is continuously emerging with new ambitions & this board places you in the front line of evolution…
6’6″ x 29 3/4″ The Impossible
Sean Poynter
When first introduced to SUP, I was curious. Coming from a professional surfing background, the whole idea of SUP’ing came across a little boring. For all I knew, it was a sport where old guys would stand on top of oversized boards and paddle around with an oar to easilty catch waves . As a young surfer, it just didn’t sound appealing.
Then I came to experience it first hand… . It was an activity that tested my abilities as a surfer- my balance, strength, and natural sync with the movement of the ocean.
After a while I found how it puts a new twist on the methods of traditional surfing. Instead of testing your abilities only while being on the wave, SUP challenge you during the entire session- when you’re standing on the board, paddling, catching and surfing a wave. It is a great tool to fine-tune your surfing style. SUP’ing is an activity that I have taken a great liking to and look forward to each session as an opportunity to further improve my skills.
7’11″ x 29″ Seven Eleven Pod
How about another under 8′ board?…if you’ve been watching this blog, you’ve seen glimpses of it…we already have pre-orders on it from several hot local wave rippers…
Shown here in the wood top and bottom…Terje Haakonsen (TAC) version… Developed by Jean Louis Colmas in 1984, Wood Technology became Starboard’s trademark construction since 1995…let’s do the math…that’s 15 years of building wood boards that withstand the rigors of world class wavesailing…going over 30 mph and looping 30
‘ in the air…and, more importantly landing with board fully intact…we are not just trying to figure it out now with only a couple of years of board building experience under our flip flops…;-)
WARNING, this short shape is quickly taking you to levels that seemed impossible. Advanced SUP riders and light weights are suited to get the most out of this board. Radically responsive, only the 7’11″ x 29.5″ POD will match it’s rail to rail ability, vertical projection, speed down the line and ability to fit into a pocket.
It doesn’t have the greatest glide into waves…no high performance short board SUP under 8′ will…so, this board will test your balance. However, the performance benefits of it’s smaller size and maneuverability, usually outweigh these factors for those looking for “a short board” feel…and, truly rad short board performance…no gain without pain…;-)
May you have peace, joy, and prosperity in the New Year…
Oh, by golly…have a holly jolly…Molly Christmas…
Had a great surf this morning in perfect waves…surfing in harmony…the laydown guys had heaps of questions about my high performance SUP’s…one thing led to another…serendipity…so, I connected with one of the guys involved in Surfers Healing…he has an effort to get autistic kids to surf…my wife, the VP in our corporations, has a stack of degrees and credentials in the field of autism and special needs kids…so this is a perfect match…stay tuned for an event that will allow us the opportunity to give back…and, pay our stoke for surfing, and standup paddling forward…
Speaking of giving…
This video really captures the spirit of Christmas…and, the unconditional love of dogs…man’s best friend…
In our never-ending quest for the “holy grail” of board design…we have been working with Art Colyer of North Pacific Surfboards on the “ultimate mini-tanker noserider SUP”…
Not quite finished…still have to set the center fin box…but, we couldn’t wait to introduce you to the “Mullet”…it’s all business up front…party out the back…;-)
This puppy is a 10’2″ x 30″ noserider SUP with a high performance double bump, round pin tail…quad plus 1…we went with a killer, marbled gray bowling ball swirl airbrush…S T R I K E !!!
This is only one of a couple of new hand shaped designs that our association with Art Colyer, and the North Pacific team, are producing…these cutting edge designs are starting to energize the SUP waveriding world here on the mainland in real time…
North Pacific has been delivering this Winter…these sexy lines have been seen around town on a number of vehicles…before, and after, sessions in the green room…;-)
Becky came in today and scored a sweet 9’6″ North Pacific diamond tail quad plus 1… She is a hot wahine outrigger paddler, and surfer…also, a talented artist who paints for a famous toy billionaire…can’t wait to see her shred a few on this puppy…
BTW, I sell toys, too…all of that college edumacation…go figure…;-) Maybe someday, if things keep going as well as they have…I’ll have a few more zeros in my portfolio from selling toys, too…;-)
We set her beach cruiser…a Toyota 4 Runner…up with a set of HandiRack inflatable roof racks…
Sweet custom SUP ride…
Hot Gerry Lopez quad Future fin setup…all lit up…
We have an infinite number of hand shaped shapes, sizes, and colors of SUP’s that we can offer you…here’s a few to tickle the gray matter between your ears…paddle surf boards for mainland conditions…
From the beginning, we have been pushing the edge of SUP board design…innovating, not imitating…but, thanks for the flattery fellers…;-)
We have been working with longtime established, and RESPECTED, board shapers…guys that have HAND SHAPED thousands of surfboards, sailboards, kite boards, and tow boards…from our work with Sean Ordonez when we introduced the world’s first molded epoxy production SUP’s…the legendary “Big Red” and “Big Blue”…to our work with Joe Blair on the first wider quadfin SUP’s under 10′…we have worked with Bill Foote on his most popular SUP designs…the 11′ x 30″ and 9’10″ x 29.5″…our input has also contributed to establishing the Starboard SUP line as the premiere production SUP board company on the planet…and, the beat goes on
…pa rum pa pum pum…pa rum pa pum pum…
Some lucky person in Florida is going to have lots of fun unwrapping their gorgeous new Starboard Terje Haakonsen (TAC) 10’5″ Drive for Christmas…who has been naughty and who’s been nice?…;-)
Guy and Daniel doing a SUPer job boxing this beauty up for the cross country venture…industrial strength bubble wrap and cardboard mummification…then it goes in a box inside of another high density cardboard box…ready to survive a drop down the chimney…;-)
Johnny putting the final wraps on this Christmas package…
Other last minute gift ideas for the procrastinators out there…;-)
Our Gift Certificates have been very popular this season…we can email these off to you all the way through tomorrow…
Give Them the Perfect Gift: Let Them Choose!
Buy a SUPSports Gift Certificate and give them something they’re guaranteed to love, because they get to choose exactly what they want…available in multiples of $100…
Heavy duty 15′ covered “Burrito” style straps…these tie down straps prevent dings and scratches to boats and cars…great stocking stuffer…$28…
Here are some other Merry Merry, Happy Happy, Nifty Gifty, Easy Peasy, SUP’er Holiday Gifts for you… these sugarplums really let your loved ones know that they are SPECIAL…click image below for more info…
We’ve done a number of private “white glove” SUP demos / lessons for our rock star, movie star, international radio personality, television commentator, business mogul, etc…clients…no big dealio…we offer the same level of service to our “everyday Joe and Jane” types, as well…
Brian M. drove up from Ventura County for one today…he’s a surfin’ cowboy…wears Ariat ropers…as do I…fortuitously, designed by another client of ours…
Brian has purchased a couple of Bill Foote SUP’s from us…he has the 9’10″ and 11′ models…problem is, he is an addict…;-)
Brian has counted at least 80 surfboard acquisitions in his head…for the record, I’m well into triple digits…that’s part of the reason that I own a board company…;-)
I’ve had a saying about my WARDOG fin designs, as a pragmatic and analytical recovering engineer/scientist, that you have to leave the science at the water’s edge and let the dance take over…the same holds true, I’ve also discovered, of my involvement in standup paddle board designs…compared to surfboards…there are some counter-intuitive aesthetic parameters that optimize SUP performance…
“Trial and error” R&D is very effective at getting performance enhancements out of a product…it’s also expensive…that’s why I like to work with longtime, established surfboard and sailboard shapers when designing new shapes…most of the guys we work with have over 20 years of shaping experience…and, several have over 40 years of hand shaping experience…
“Feel” is a huge part of the QUALITATIVE experience when you paddle and/or paddlesurf a SUP…
Brian is also very analytical…but, I’ve diagnosed a bit of “paralysis by analysis” in his latest quest for the “holy grail” of surfing SUP’s…
So I loaded up a portion of my personal SUP quiver and met him at a more private location to let him decide for himself what his next purchase would be…
NOTE: If you would like to do the same and can’t drive to Santa Barbara, we have had a number of clients fly into our great airport here in Santa Barbara where we have picked them up and have also provided accommodations…
If you have been paying attention to our extensive blog posts and image galleries, you realize that we no longer carry a number of SUP’s and products…times change…products become dated and some of the companies that produce them lose their focus on Q U A L I T Y…attention to detail and striving for excellence…these are standards that I have employed in over 2 decades of watersport product development…
We also feel that if you only offer one brand and are focused solely on it, you are too subjective…how the heck do you know that your brand “kicks ass” if you don’t paddle any other paddle or board?
You’ll NEVER hear me proclaim “buy this product because it kicks ass…yup, buy it just because I say so”…our QA standards are a little more stringent…I’m a scientist, I don’t believe in make believe…therefore, we don’t sell it ’round here…;-)
If you haven’t noticed, we are not in bed with any one brand…our clients value our objectivity…it helps to keep everyone honest…
We also think that offering SUP boards with click & buy links is kinda ludicrous…it’s really only for “value shoppers” that have little regard for quality, resale value, or optimal performance…etc…and, worse…greedy website shisters preying on newbie sensitivities to push their low-end crap for the lowest common denominator…most of these guys don’t even standup paddle… SUP-posers…it’s just another in the line of sports that they are trying to exploit and pad their wallets with…chasing their tails…
We want to engage our clients in a discussion about their equipment…we’ll solve the “problem” together…you only live once…so you may as well make it count…
A few of Brian’s choices in SUP’s that he was focused on…choices are a good thang…;-)
The Starboard 9’8″ wood Fish…
This is hard work…but, it’s F U N!
Let’s try the 9’5″ x 31″ Naish Mana…
Smooth and stable…
Next up the 9’10″ Bill Foote that he already owns…good reference point…
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Checking out the hydrodynamic perfection of my new 10’6″ stinger gun design… Ooops! Put that science back on da beach!!!
The North Pacific 8’10″ x 32″ winger swallow quad plus 1…
The 9’10 x 32″ North Pacific winger swallow quad plus 1…
Eenie meenie minie mo…lotz o’ boardz fo’ sho’…;-)
Next up is the Blair 9’7″ x 30.5″…
North Pacific custom sweet nectar…just a few of the unique offerings that we’ve had a hand in designing…
The nice run of surf that we’ve enjoyed lately has brought a number of paddlesurfers from all over the state…and, several from the East Coast into the shop to pick up more high performance wave riding SUP’s…
Here are a few of the wave riding SUP’s that have been flying out the door, lately…
The Starboard 8’5″ “Pocket Rocket” is the best selling under 9′ SUP in the world…
Here is one in “Classic” construction that we just custom padded up yesterday for another longtime Central Coast surfer…
Here is a GoPro vid clip that our friend Dan Gavere (Werner Paddles) put together of paddle surfing Hawaii on the Pocket Rocket…
Here are a few quotes about it’s performance:
Nikki and I are absolutely loving our Pocket Rockets in HI. Fast loose and turny. I had mine on a few waves that were approaching double overhead and it was solid. STOKED
– Dan Gavere
“8’5″ Pocket rocket, yeehaw!!!”
“So, after receiving my pocket rocket about 2 weeks ago, I finally got to try it out with the swell that has rolled into Socal these past couple days. I totally love it. The board is super stable, and paddles over the waves really well. I was concerned about that because I have been riding the 10’3″ the last couple months, but the pocket rocket is super stable. I had the 8’0″ by 26″ before, yeah, not so much for me. the pocket rocket basically surfs like a “fun board”. Which is fitting, cause it’s fun. Catches waves well too. All your energy can go into surfing, rather than keeping your balance. Get it!!!!!”
– Brandi Baksic
“I just received mine, and the thing works unreal! Turns on a dime, and built bombproof. Stoked to be paddlesurfing again, instead of just grinding out insane training sessions.”
Another killer option that we’ve been ripping on lately are the North Pacific SUP’s…here’s an 8’6″ and 9’0″…
So far, almost everyone who has ridden our new 10’6″ stinger gun design, has ordered one…it’s that good…we have another batch being built right now…along with a new 10’2″ x 30″ mini-tanker, double bump, wing round tail…
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A few other options are the new Blair 8’11″, 9’7″, & 10’1″ production epoxy SUP’s which are great waveriders…Joe Blair has been shaping for 40 years…he’s made my quad surfboards for the last 12 years…
Standup Paddle Sports is stoked to be working with Wave Tribe and, their line of ecologically-minded standup paddlesurf products using hemp and recycled materials…
The construction and thoughtfulness of design is some of the best that we have seen…
The world’s only RECYCLED SURF LEASH just got even better with a ONE YEAR WARRANTY, we will replace it FREE if you break it within one year of purchase. Made with a 100% recycled urethane cord, this leash offers the best of all worlds: comfort, strength, reliability, and sustainability.
OUTDOOR MAGAZINE selected the Wave Tribe leash as part of it’s BEST NEW GEAR for 2009!
Here is a double SUP travel bag…
Eco fin wallet…
Spend too much time looking for your fin key? Us too. Wave Tribe has developed a hemp fin wallet to help you keep all your surf goodies in one place. This fin wallet is made from HEMP—naturally—and fits all types of fins, including longboard and fish.
We are a standup paddle board company…in fact, supboards.com and standuppaddlesurf.com are just a few of the hundreds of SUP related domains that will redirect to our main website…
The first dedicated SUP store on this continent…as such, the nuts and bolts of our business are standup paddle boards…lots and lots of SUP’s…in fact, we have over 150 SUP’s in stock at our paddle board warehouses…*REAL* boards…not, just thumbnail sized graphics of vaporware boards on some cheesy, dime a dozen, look-a-like website that are not actually available…and worse, is run by some poser reading from a brochure, that obviously doesn’t even standup paddle…if you want to gamble…just go to Vegas and put it all on red…;-)
We are experts and are passionate about standup…give us a shout out toll free, or email, and we’ll help guide you through the maze of SUP options…our customer service is second to none…we have years of customer testimonials from around the world…
We are also a “one stop SUP shop”…we have all of the SUP accessories (sugarplums) that you can dream of…;-)
Just in time for the holidaze, we just received another huge shipment of Starboard SUP’s yesterday…if you can’t get to Santa Barbara to pick up your paddleboard directly from our paddle board warehouse, we can ship you a paddle board direct to your home…we have SUP’s being shipped right now to new standup paddlers in Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, and Wisconsin to name just a few…
Lots of folks from out of state, and country, have visited our shop and have purchased SUP’s from us to use while on vacation here in Santa Barbara…we gladly double box them and ship them home for our clients…
