More people are getting into strife on stand-up paddleboards as their popularity explodes while novices do not understand how to safely use them.

Four students were swept more than 20 kilometres across Port Phillip Bay overnight on Monday from Rosebud to Swan Island, where they were found 12 hours after they took to the water on two inflatable boards.

A paddleboarder in St Kilda. Novices have been warned to learn how to use paddleboards safely before heading out.Credit:Leigh Henningham

Life Saving Victoria’s Liam Krige said beach patrols were dealing with a growing number of people getting into trouble on the rafts.

“Paddleboards themselves are extremely popular because they’re really stable, they’re really easy to use and they’re becoming really affordable,” he said. “But, unfortunately, we do see a number of individuals who don’t prepare themselves.”

Krige said winds easily picked up the large, buoyant boards. A person standing on one acted like a sail, making it “very difficult to paddle against”, he said.

Lifejackets are only mandatory on paddleboards if used 400 metres or more from shore, or for children under 10.

Mark Thomson, secretary of the non-profit club Stand Up Paddle-Boarding Victoria, said it would be a “gross over-reaction” to make lifejackets compulsory closer to land, as is the case for canoes, kayaks and rowing boats.

“With a canoe or kayak, if you turn them over and they get full of water, they’re not a great flotation device. An SUP [stand-up paddleboard] is always afloat – [it’s] the best piece of safety equipment you can have out in the water,” he said.

“Paddling an SUP with a life vest will stop a lot of people doing it. Most use is within 50 metres of the shoreline … people just aren’t going to do with … stuff with a life vest.”

Thomson said leg ropes were the best safety precaution and he would not object to them being made mandatory in Victoria, as they are at all his organisation’s events.

Stand-up paddleboard safety

Always wear a leg rope 

Check the weather and understand how the wind might affect you. Do not go on the water in offshore winds (wind blowing away from the shore) 

Do not out on the water alone 

Bring a mobile phone, radio or emergency beacon in a waterproof bag 

Surf Life Saving and Safe Transport Victoria strongly recommended wearing a lifejacket at all times. Lifejackets are compulsory for children under 10.

Safe Transport Victoria said there were no paddleboard-related deaths and 17 reported incidents last financial year, and eight incidents in the previous year.

The four students who got into trouble on Monday were all inexperienced swimmers and were not wearing lifejackets.

All but one had been discharged from hospital by late Wednesday.

Emergency services were also called to Frankston Yacht Club about 9.30pm on Tuesday when two paddleboarders could not make it back to shore. They returned to land safely.

Krige agreed that the buoyancy of paddleboards made them relatively safe, as long as riders used leg ropes to ensure they stayed with their board.

He said anyone using a board should go out with at least one other paddler after checking weather conditions, and wear a lifejacket even if not compulsory.

“Paddleboards are an absolutely fantastic way to enjoy the coastline. They’re fun bits of kit as long as the appropriate safety measures are in place and people are prioritising their safety,” Krige said.

Thomson said that, until recently, paddleboards were sold only at specialist watersports stores that advised customers on how to use them safely. But now people were buying cheaper, inflatable models from general outdoors retailers and taking to the water without knowing the risks.

“There’s a general naivety – SUP looks like fun, they’re pretty harmless and they don’t think about the consequences,” he said. “It’d be ideal if [retailers] had an information sheet to hand or at the very least they directed them to the [Stand Up Paddle-Boarding Victoria] website.”

Stand Up Paddle-Boarding Victoria says paddlers should always wear leg ropes and understand how the wind could affect them and their abilities on the water.

“If you’re a novice, you should look at conditions and say: that’s not for me,” Thomson said.

Safe Transport Victoria encourages paddlers to wear life vests at all times and carry two communication devices – such as mobile phones, marine radios or distress beacons – in waterproof pouches.

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