Candice Appleby and Anthony Vela SUP Surf

One of the most iconic couples of the stand up paddle world, Candice Appleby and Anthony Vela, went out early in the morning at Oceanside, CA to showcase their sup surf prowess.

Candice Appleby and Anthony Vela stand up paddle surfing in Oceanside, California.

OCEANSIDE, California – Candice Appleby, a professional ocean athlete, and Anthony Vela, a lifeguard and ironman champion, had a few stand up paddle surf moves under their sleeves, mixing both progressive and traditional surfing. Candice unleashed her progressive sup surf style on the right handers while Anthony Vela, going back and forth between a stand up paddle surfboard and a longboard, displayed an impressive repertoire on the lefts.

With waves running fairly quickly and giving little room for the typically larger sup surfboards, conditions were more challenging than appeared. Here were a few of the challenges on hand. Temperatures were relatively low during the morning session, getting Appleby and Vela to be "rubbered up" in wetsuits, losing flexibility and explosive energy. Add to it that shoulder-high surf with fast peelers make it really hard on the straight-up and down-lines of progressive surfing, due largely to the bigger sizes of stand up paddle surfboards having a harder time fitting the curl of the wave.

Now that didn't seem to hinder much their performances. Riding his Infinity Carver TL 8'5", Infinity Slater Trout 9'0", as well as the Aipa Kanoa Dahlin 9'5", Vela, a Boardworks Elite Teamrider, transitioned effortlessly between quick turns and noseriding. And while he worked the lefts and shot the Oceanside Pier, Candice Appleby rode her Surftech progressive sup surfboard, getting her own turns and trademark off-the-lip snaps. (View Anthony's Boardworks SUP & Surfboards and Candice's Surftech board.) 

Do you rather sup surf, race, tour or other?