I have a hunch that many SUPers are going to start to want a board that will keep their stuff dry and maybe let them easily bring another person along and will go faster. It won’t matter so much if it gets blown around so much because it’ll be used on inland rivers.
I think SUPs will always stick around but that a side-niche will emerge that is longer and that has some freeboard — sidewalls and gunnels. It’ll have a removable seat for using a shorter paddle and sitting. It’ll be offered in an even longer variant with option for 1 or even 2 seating positions.
These newly evolved sidewalls might still be rather low — like 6-8″. Just enough to keep stuff dry but not so high as to cause the board to be easily blown around. Also, easy to empty out if tipped over.
Sound familiar? Yeah, they’ll pretty much be canoes. But a little different.
Canoes have such a funny time of it, it seems. Kayaks still seem like they rule the rivers. These aren’t whitewater kayaks but these new bulbous things sold at Dick’s and other bigboxes. They’re heavy. But people think they’re fast. They’re low and hard to move around in or get in and out of (canoes are already tricky enough!). They have these decks — but why? They’re used in mellow waters. I suppose they’re a bit like a seakayak and can be used out on a lake as well — so they’re better in waves out there — but canoes can handle a LOT of wave as well. They don’t get blown around as much as a canoe, though.
