Laird Hamilton – Paddle Surfing
No wind? No problem – paddle surf for fun and conditioning
A common denominator that is often found in great downwind helmsman is that at one point in their lives they were probably gymnasts, snow skiers (probably now snowboarders, too), or surfers. It’s a balance thing. No question that I saw this in SoCal with some of the people I sailed with – legend has it that Dave Ullman was a great surfer before – and during – the time he owned the 470 class.
Laird Hamilton is the current icon of the surfing world – he’s credited with inventing, or at least perfecting, foilboarding, along with plenty of other tricks in the sport. He’s also pretty darn good at getting endorsement deals from big companies, not the least of which is American Express. Is there a currently sailor with an AmEx deal?
Now it comes that Laird is being given credit for the next trend in surfing – “Paddle Surfing” – just like it sounds – a paddle and a surfboard, a “stand up” activity. That sounds like fun – but also – it sounds like a great workout. Imagine the benefit – a bit of balance training, and pretty much a total body workout. So, for all those days that we get beached from no wind, maybe this would be a better way to pass the time while we wait for the wind to blow. And maybe it will come to pass that someone will build one of these boards that can serve as both a windsurfing and paddle surf board.
Great pictures in the Los Angeles Times story here.
