Stealing the waves? Some surfers in Va. Beach think so.

VIRGINIA BEACH

The ocean may be vast and surfing mostly peaceful, but sometimes breaking waves get a little crowded and tempers can flare.

A relatively new water sport called stand-up paddleboarding has migrated east from Hawaii, bringing to the surf a simmering tension with surfers similar to the turf battle between skiers and snowboarders that played out on mountain slopes in the 1990s.

"It's a red-hot sport right now," said Rick Romano, a stand-up paddleboarder and Beach artist. "There's a big rift in the surfing community about it."

Paddleboarders stand on large boards and use long, single-bladed paddles to propel through the water. Riders use them in flat water and to surf waves. In the surf zone, they enjoy the advantage of being able to see and catch waves earlier than surfers and, in many cases, can ride smaller waves longer, all of which frustrates some surfers. Sometimes heated words are exchanged. In rare cases, it gets physical.

"These guys can catch the waves farther out than anyone else," said Tony Lighthart, a Sandbridge surfboard maker and surfer. "From a surfer's perspective, it's getting to the point where we don't get along."

They've come to the attention of local officials. Beach resident Janet Meyer went before the council this summer to complain about paddleboarders, tossing the issue into the unpredictable realm of politics.

"A lot of surfers wish paddleboarders would just go away," Meyer said recently, citing her safety concerns about the size of the boards and the paddles. "They sit so much further out and they're stealing the waves. Somehow it doesn't seem fair."

The Police Department requested that the council ask the General Assembly for authority to regulate the sport. Its request said the boards "could create a safety hazard for swimmers or persons wading into the water" and asked for the power to "regulate, by ordinance, the use and operation of paddle boards."

That has some stand-up paddleboarders worried that new rules could restrict ocean access.

The U.S. Coast Guard classifies stand-up paddleboards, most of which are between 10 and 12 feet long, as "vessels," but that designation applies only outside of surf zones. As result, officials are wrestling with how, if at all, to regulate them inside surfing areas.

Police Sgt. Brian Ricardo, who heads the department's marine unit, said police have no interest in banning the boards from surf areas, the main fear of some stand-up paddleboarders. Ricardo said he wants to make sure paddleboarders wear leashes, the devices that keep riders tethered to their boards after a fall, just like surfers, and that most already do.

He's not aware of any paddleboard getting away from its rider and crashing into a swimmer or wader - a common fear - but wants to make sure it doesn't happen.

Romano said he found that reassuring.

"People assumed the worst," he said. "The whole thing just blew up."

Usually, the worst thing that happens out in the waves is mild trash talking. Surfers have coined derisive names for paddleboarders, including "sweepers" and "janitors," a reference to the paddling motion.

In rare cases, conflicts escalate.

This summer, a surfer and stand-up paddleboarder ended up in court over a confrontation in the ocean at the resort area jetty near First Street, the city's busiest surf spot.

On July 14, surfer Pete Bowling III launched his board at paddleboarder George Copenhaver, hitting Copenhaver's "board and legs and foot," according to Copenhaver's criminal complaint, filed in court.

"He grabbed his board back and told me to 'get that (expletive) paddle board out of the surf zone, this is an (expletive) surf zone for surf boards,' " Copenhaver wrote in his complaint.

Later that day, Copenhaver confronted Bowling in the parking lot and Bowling pulled a hatchet from his car, Copenhaver's complaint says.

"The only reason I can conclude about Pete's actions was he does not want stand-up paddleboarders in the surf zone," Copenhaver wrote. "He on purpose tried to cause bodily harm by using his surfboard."

Bowling was found guilty in General District Court of misdemeanor assault and fined $1,000. He has appealed the case to Circuit Court.

Dave Shotton, owner of Freedom Surf Shop, said the rift between surfers and stand-up paddleboarders is exaggerated and probably temporary. He likened it to the tension between longboarders and other surfers at the Beach jetty in the 1990s. Longboard surfers, because of the boards' size, have some of the same advantages as stand-up paddleboarders.

"We didn't want longboarders there," said Shotton, who now rides both surfboards and stand-up paddleboards.

He said stand-up boards are great for riding small waves, giving people a reason to get in the ocean on days when surfers stay home.

"We just want another excuse to be in the water," he said.

In the end, it's likely surfers and stand-up paddleboarders will be left alone to work out their differences.

Councilman John Uhrin, a longtime surfer who represents the Oceanfront and has met with paddleboard advocates, said police are looking to regulate them as if they were surfboards, a solution he thinks will please most people.

"There's just more people using the surfing areas, and there's not enough room for everybody," he said. "Everybody just has to be nice."

Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com