Why so many Britons have taken to stand-up paddleboarding
It combines fitness, wellness and smugness
Visit any body of water in Britain this summer and you will probably spot them, wielding their paddles like modern-day Argonauts. In the past three years stand-up paddleboarding (or SUPing) has been propelled from obscurity to popularity. Some 4.5m Britons have dabbled; over 1m own a board, according to one survey. What’s up?
Paddleboards were invented in Hawaii in the 1940s. Originally marketed to surfers as a backup for days of flat water, early adopters used them for racing and exploring coastlines. But SUPs struggled to take off. Thrill-seekers thought they combined all the work (paddling) with none of the excitement (surfing).
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