# stand up kayak



## superhaole (Jan 20, 2009)

anyone got any suggestions for converting a whitewater kayak to a stand-up paddleboard for the river?


----------



## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

Buy my T- Canyon ,put in foot cups ,get spanked ALOT.


----------



## LagoonYaker (Jan 20, 2009)

Converting an existing kayak into a stand-up does sound like a bad idea. I'm assuming you have an old boat lying around and want to do something with it maybe. But if you must stand up, you may want to check out a WaveWalk. I have one of these boats and like it. It's heavy-duty so it can take the bouncing and scrapping off rocks. But it's a good work out. Check it out: 

Wavewalk Fishing Kayaks. Stand Up Paddling and Fishing Kayaks


----------



## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

Dragorossi will be debuting a River specific stand up paddle surfboard soon. Here is the link to the page with info:

Drago Cayuco

Its designed to be a more friendly version of the ocean going SOP boards, plus more durable since its plastic.

Beyond that, I would imagine that just ripping the seat out and putting a nice layer of mini cell foam down to get grip and comfort would be enough to start with when it comes to converting a kayak over. I imagine the part that would be the hardest to figure out would be keeping water out in waves, if you decided to take it on something harder then just a lake. Good luck man.

JH


----------



## Standup-Yak (Sep 23, 2010)

Hi everybody,
There's a major problem with paddling a SUP board down a fast river, and it is that falling overboard is not an option (if you're a sensible guy/gal) but it's very likely to happen, sooner or later. Once you lose balance while paddling standing, you need a 'Plan B', namely a way to regain your stability, or else you go overboard, and SUP boards don't offer such Plan B.
However, W kayaks do offer it, in the form of a 14 inch high, longitudinal saddle (high seat) that you straddle with your legs while you're paddling standing, but you can always fall down on and regain your stability from the Riding position (think riding a bike, or a horse, or an ATV) which offers more control than the traditional kayaking position know as the L position.
Words are not a good means for explaining such things, so here's a link to a blog page with a demo video that includes showing how to "fall", regain balance and control instantly, and get up to a standing position immediately after, without using any accessory: The World’s Most Stable Fishing Kayak In Reality | WAVEWALK FISHING KAYAKS
Having said all that, I'd like to add that SUP paddling in whitewater is too risky to be considered a recreational sport, even in a W kayak.
I would also like to use this opportunity to add that SUP on a board over flat water isn't a viable option either, because a board doesn't offer means to paddle from a lower position, so there's no guarantee you'd be able to go back to where you came from in case the wind picks up, and it's blowing at you from the wrong direction - and your entire body acts a sail...


----------



## matt cook (Dec 15, 2009)

standupyack-why cant you just climb back on a sup and stand up? it seems to work for surfboards and duckies? Also, I've seen several paddle boarders kneel while going through big drops and holes they didnt feel comfortable standing through, and they could paddle and balance pretty well. Saw one guy run Pillow Rock on the Gauley saturday, and he made it almost to Volkswagon rock before flipping. In fact I saw a few folks on SUP's on the Grand Canyon last October. It was crazy, as they went through the small rapids in front of us it looked like Jesus was levitating back and forth across the river! Superhole- I'm not sure a whitewater kayak would be stable enough from a standing position unless it had a fairly flat bottom and lots of volume.


----------



## BoscoBoater (Jul 11, 2006)

Try using an IK like Strider Snyder..




























http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liIg6bS-bpw

It seems to work for him.


----------



## matt cook (Dec 15, 2009)

is that a foam floor? I had a old school(narrow) foam floor puma that was super easy to stand up in through rapids.


----------

