New Zealand is inundated by paddleboarders! Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
Remember ten years ago when paddleboarding wasn’t really even a thing? Then, overnight, it seemed that paddleboards were everywhere. The horizon was quickly dotted with men and women who walked on water, sweeping their way to the outside, stoically staring out to sea before gracefully tipping over, paddles flying with the slightest chop. A new study that looked at the number of stand-up paddlers in New Zealand shows that, in the last ten years, “SUPing” has really blown up.
According to the study, done by Surfing NZ, paddleboarding makes up 15 percent of all surfing in the country. Almost two thousand people took part in the survey.
“When we last did the survey there was a zero response from paddleboarders. This time around they’ve risen to 15 percent,” Surfing NZ spokesperson Ben Kennings said. “Paddleboards simply didn’t exist back then.”
Estimates put the number of surfers in New Zealand somewhere around 150,000. The survey covered a lot–how surfers began surfing, how old they were when they started, and where they surf, among other things.
“Understanding which regions have a strong surfing presence determines where we hold events,” said Kennings. “(And) where we concentrate learn-to-surf programs and other developments to the surfing community.”
