Years ago an old fisherman here in south Florida said to me: "Good fish ain't cheap and cheap fish ain't good."
I think that applies to a lot of things in life. Now I love a good deal on a generic brand of Neapolitan ice cream as much as the next guy, but sometimes you have to get the good stuff.
To me, standup paddling is such a tremendous facet of my life that I want a solid board under my feet and a nice paddle in hand. My first set-up was a Jimmy Lewis Albatross and QuickBlade Kanaha. Both great products. I raced that combo more than 12 miles during the 2010 Key West Paddleboard Classic. Cost, with racing fin: just under $2,000.
That fish ain't cheap.
But that also doesn't mean you have to drop a couple thousands dollars to get a good set-up. SUP companies initially targeted watermen, established athletes and surfers capable of ocean crossings and surfing head-high tubes. These companies were smart to get well-established surfers and water athletes to help promote the sport and get other interested in walking on water.
In recent years many SUP companies have released a lower price-point soft top boards and well-designed fiberglass paddles. We now offer a HovieSUP touring board with paddle cut to length, delivered for under $1,000.
Now there are plenty of cheaper SUP set-ups out. Some companies are jumping on the bandwagon -- mass producing heavy, slow boards. The main design purpose behind many of these models is to make sure they stack neatly in a tractor trailer to cut down on shipping costs.
I don't know about you, but I want a board designed for the water, not to be shipped efficiently.
I'll leave you with another line from a very experienced paddler friend:
"Buy the (board) you want. If you don't have the money, just rent and save up. If you buy the (board) you want, you only pay for it one time -- at the cash register. If you buy the (board) that you don't want, you pay for it every time you're on the water."
Peace.
