Video - SUP, Maui, Paula & Kent In the Miami Herald

[ricki]

"Old sport of paddleboarding catching on in South Florida

It's the latest fitness craze to consume image-obsessed South Florida. Embraced by kids, seniors -- and even their dogs -- standup paddleboarding is simple, relatively inexpensive and combines a full-body workout with outdoors exploration.

The sport -- or workout method, depending on how you use it -- involves much of what its name implies. Practitioners stand upright on what looks like a wide surfboard, then paddle across a body of water. Some use it for racing; some for touring; some for diving, fishing, and, oh yeah, working out.

``I feel much younger today than I did four years ago,'' said Louis Gomez, 72, of Pinecrest, an avid paddleboarder, kite surfer and kayaker.

``We lose our balance as we get older. You lose muscle mass. Every time you get on a paddleboard or a kite board you're building muscle. You're working your core. You're working everything.''

Unlike most kayaks, the standup paddleboard offers a wider, higher view of the surroundings. And it's less gear-intensive and easier to stand on than a windsurfer, which requires a sail.

Devotees of the standup paddleboard say it didn't become mainstream in South Florida until about three years ago, after equipment manufacturers began showcasing the gear at trade shows.

Popular for years in Hawaii and California, the sport likely originated with Hawaiian surfers of the 1920s, '30s and '40s, who stood on their boards and used canoe paddles to stay dry while escorting tourists on surfing lessons, said Pete Cabrinha, a former world champion windsurfer who now designs and manufactures paddleboards.

SURFING LEGEND

The standup boards all but disappeared while watersports enthusiasts embraced surfing, windsurfing, sea kayaking and kite surfing. Cabrinha and others such as Clay Feeter, publisher of Standup Journal magazine, credit the resurgence to world champion surfer Laird Hamilton, now in his 40s, who took it up five years ago.

``Because he's a very iconic figure, he began to get a following,'' Feeter said. ``People began doing it for exercise.''

Then photos of actress Jennifer Aniston on a paddleboard appeared on the Internet and it went viral.

Now, about a dozen dealers in Miami-Dade County sell standup paddleboards. Among them is Kent Marinkovic -- a former windsurfing champion and president of Pryde Group America -- who owns Adventure Sports Miami in Coconut Grove.

The sport's growth, he says is ``exponential.'' In the year since he opened his shop, he said, he has gone from selling 12 to 15 boards a year to up to eight per week.

The reason?

``It's because anybody can do it,'' Marinkovic said.

Those who doubt can try out the sport at the rental concession he and wife Paula opened last year at Matheson Hammock Park in Coral Gables, where an hour-long spin in Biscayne Bay costs between $15 and $30, depending on which model you rent. Sailboard Miami on Key Biscayne and the Surf World stores in Pompano Beach and Dania Beach also offer rentals at similar rates."

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/0...#ixzz0yqsrfOt4