Every year sapsurfing becomes more and more popular. People floating on boards on reservoirs with a paddle in their hands can be increasingly seen both in life and on social networks. In this article we will talk about this type of water entertainment.
Sapsurfing, or sapboarding, is a type of surfing. But unlike the classic version, where you had to row with your hands, and then, catching a wave, maneuver while standing on a board, sapsurfing is much more “humane”. And in order to ride a board, neither physical training nor special skills are particularly important.
A person puts on a vest, sits on the sap, his leg is attached to the sap and given an oar in his hands. That is, even if this person does not know how to swim and falls into the water, nothing terrible will happen. And despite the fact that SUP (Stand Up Paddle) literally means “standing on a board with a paddle”, beginners do not stand with their feet on the boards, but swim while kneeling: so there is no need to think about balance, and, therefore, there is no chance of falling into the water.
But about everything in order!
A little history
In 1960, Hawaiian surfers first tried to ride large boards with paddles to entertain themselves while waiting for the waves. However, sapsurfing as a sport appeared only at the beginning of the two thousandth, when rowing with a paddle was presented at the annual show, then the sport was actively popularized, in 2003 the first competitions were held on it, in 2005 the sapsurfing federation was founded in California, and now it is a dynamically developing sport.
Currently, sapsurfing is so widespread that festivals are held in major cities around the world when hundreds or even thousands of surfers stand on the boards. Competitions are held, attracting hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators. Sap surfing schools are opening, and in sports shops you can increasingly find equipment for this sport.
Sapsurfing in Kazakhstan
As for Kazakhstan, this type of water sport gained wide popularity just a couple of years ago. But now it is difficult to find a large body of water where they would not ride on boards.
Social networks are constantly full of various pages inviting you to take water walks. Someone calls to meet the dawn, someone – the sunset, others attach breakfast to the morning walk, there are those who promise not only to teach you to ride a board, but also to invite a photographer who will take professional pictures of you against the backdrop of picturesque places. The cost of the walk starts from five to six thousand tenge.
In addition to invitations to boat trips, there are also offers of rafting. And now they are more complicated and are unlikely to suit beginners, since if the walk lasts one and a half to two hours, then the rafting will take from six hours. And despite the fact that it is not difficult to row in general, but due to the duration of the rafting and the speed of the current in the reservoir (it is clear that the larger the current, the more strength the surfer will need), before agreeing to such an adventure, you need to think carefully. The cost of the alloy starts from 13 thousand tenge.
Those who do not have enough of a two-hour walk or do not like the idea of rafting with unfamiliar people can easily find offers for renting equipment for sapsurfing. That is, you can rent a board in the city, and then go for a ride on your favorite pond. You can rent a board and inventory for it from 10 thousand tenge per day.
Travel companies also picked up the new trend. As part of their one- and two-day tours and excursions, they offer water walks on the smell. By the way, such offers are very profitable, since the cost of a one-day tour increases slightly, and you will get a lot of impressions from sap surfing.
Safety precautions
Speaking of any sport, we must not forget about safety. To consult on this issue, we turned to a person who has been organizing boat trips on the Caspian Sea for four years – Kuanysh Suyumagambetov.
“Safety regulations exist. When organizing a boat trip, we monitor the wind and waves so that customers are not carried away by the current. We put vests on them. They have whistles on them. Then we conduct a water briefing: how to ride, what you can do, what you can’t. We give out water bags so that customers can put their smartphones down, and then during a walk they can take a picture of themselves or call us. We write our number on the smell just in case,” he says.
According to Kuanysh, before you get on the sap, you need to check it. Sap should be solid: not deflated and not allow air to pass through. Also, before going out on the water, you need to check your vest and generally be attentive to details.
Also, the organizer of water walks assured that any body of water is suitable for sap surfing, including lakes and even small rivers, except that reservoirs with large waves are not suitable.
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