[SeaCliff]

Tough call!


Who's the Kook ?

[Smith St. Surfer]

Oh that's good.  Very tough call.




The clue for me is right after the collision.  Look how the wave itself peters out.  That means there's a deep water channel 10 yards to the left of the guy paddling up the face of the wave and he should have been either in that or paddling towards it.   



That said the guy on the wave clearly should have taken a high line.  If you can't make a cutty around someone, don't try it. 

[RonnieO]

Kook: guy who was paddling out


Do everything you can to get outta the way of the guy on the wave. That simple. 100% of the time.

[seb]

Looks like he was checking his spray...

[thanks_table]

Looks like the rider had a lot of room to maneuver around the paddler... Simple high-line would have worked, or he could have even pulled off. The paddler was clearly in the way and cut the guy's line off, but the rider was the more fucked up party here.

Surf etiquette aside, basic human etiquette dictates you shouldn't slam into another person with a huge dangerous longboard- regardless of how clueless the person might be. A regular wave surfed purely for fun isn't worth fin stabbing someone's eyeball out.

I guess technically that makes the rider more of an asshole than a kook though...

Kook = Paddler

[MikeM]

Rider was the kook, he wasn't reading the water.  He could have dropped down around him and made the next section. 

[nydubstar]

terrible bottom turn by the guy surfing and downhill from there...both at fault


lose the leash, as well...

[Kdropin]

Rider..learn how to surf..he had plenty of wave to work with. It wasn't critical like he was stuck and didn't have an out..high line would have been my call but he could have straightened out and did a Lil bottom turn..he was riding plenty of foam

[Looseness]

I for the most part agree the rider could have dealt better with the situation {though maybe not since he looks to have poor control} even though the paddler put himself in a bad/wrong position, BUT the paddler threw his board up the wave at the last second which caused the crash. It would have been close but if the paddler hadn't thrown the board UP THE FACE, rider would have cleared him.

[Looseness]

I've seen this defensive board throwing when I've been coming down the line  towards someone but have it totally covered. They panic and chuck the board at you or turn it lengthways to me and effectively take up 9 feet of wave area so it's difficult to NOT hit them. So far I've managed to straighten off though and not hit em.....

[JayI]

Guy paddling = kook. He should've been paddling towards the foam or further in the channel. Obviously he wasn't paying attention.

But I can also agree the rider could've went around him. 1st kook= paddler, 2nd kook= surfer

[CJsurf]

Clearly it is the rider in the video who is the kook.  Its clear from the time he gets to his feet he lacks basic skills.  Is he blind to not see the paddler ahead of him?  Perhaps a visit to the eye doctor is in order???  People like that piss me off especially when there are groms in the water.  You as a rider are responsible for where you go and you must maintain at least basic control over your direction.  This kook doesn't belong surfing around other humans.  He should be way down the beach all by himself.

[the Kook]

Sorry to break it to all of you, but I did not appear anywhere in that video. 

[sman]

I've put more effort on the toilet than the paddler made to get out of way.

[ankleslapper]

looks like paddler is holding (and telegraphing) to give rider room to go around (paddler doesn't even seem to be in rider's best 'line'?).  Rider could have held higher or zipped around paddler's tail with minimal effort -- wonder if rider was trying to prove a point.