POULSBO — Poulsbo resident Nick Ogilvie likes that the sport is so new, less than 10 years, that anyone can get in on it early.

Ogilvie has been stand-up paddling, or SUP, for about a year, when his California cousin showed him the ropes. Ogilvie is so enthusiastic he broached the idea of bringing a SUP race to North Kitsap. The first Viking Paddle will take place Saturday at 5 p.m. in Liberty Bay.

As a lifelong runner, “I’m not that old, but I’m old enough that my knees are starting to feel it a little bit,” he said. Stand-up paddling “is the best exercise I’ve ever done. You gotta come out…once you get on a board almost anybody is hooked.”

The Pacific Northwest has only one other soley-SUP race: Round the Rock on Lake Washington, now in its fourth year. Gig Harbor recently hosted its inaugural Paddlers Cup and Expo in April, with competitive paddle racing for kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards.

Businesses offer SUP board rentals in Kingston, Port Gamble, Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island.

John Kuntz, owner of Olympic Outdoor Center, said paddleboard rentals have “taken off” in the last two years, and now make up 20 percent of his rental business.

Ron Krell, president of the Viking Fest Corp., got an email from a SUP enthusiast in Bellevue asking about a race in Poulsbo. Krell then began asking around, and word got back to Ogilvie.

“I thought, I’m enthusiastic [about it], I should do it,” Ogilvie said.

Within a few weeks, Ogilvie and his wife, Bliss, set up Viking Paddle. He doesn’t mind if he’s known as the “SUP guy.”

“It’s all about getting people out on the water,” he said. “Having the Viking Fest people see us out on water, it’s a great way to introduce people to it.”

Kuntz said Kitsap County is a destination for paddlers, with its miles of shoreline and “it’s just gorgeously beautiful here … It’s the jewel of Puget Sound.”

Kuntz said of paddleboarding: “Standing up on a board is a more social exercise. You can paddle next to someone, it’s very easy to operate … anyone can do it.”

Kuntz, with the Kitsap Peninsula Visitor and Convention Bureau, just released the Kitsap Peninsula Water Trails Map, the first region-wide water trails map in the area. The bureau created the map to help attract paddlers and boaters from out-of-the area and plans to distribute it through recreation retailers including REI stores in Seattle and online at its website at VisitKitsap.com, according to Patricia Graf-Hoke, executive director of the bureau.

Kitsap County Commissioners recently adopted the water trail map as a part of the North Kitsap and String of Pearls Trails Plan. The water-trail dedication will kick off the fifth annual Paddle Kitsap, a two-day paddle trip beginning in Kingston Aug. 4.

“It’s been a real collaborative effort, between the bureau, the community in Kitsap, clubs and businesses like myself,” Kuntz said. “I think it’s something the whole community can be proud of.”

For Ogilvie, SUP is now more than just exercise. Soon after being introduced to the sport, he began looking into the board’s construction. With his woodworking experience — he works in custom residential construction — he wanted to try and build his own board. He bought plans from another company, but has been designing his own, using mostly local materials.

Paddleboards are thicker than surfboards, often filled with carbon fiber and foam. His boards are made with local wood and are hollow. He hasn’t marketed himself yet, but has created a company, Skookum SUP.

Like the Hawaiian slang term “hang loose” or surfing’s “right on,” skookum is a Chinook jargon word with the same connotation — good, awesome, strong.“A lot of people tie [SUP] to Hawaii, where it was born. But I like bringing in our native culture to it.”

Viking Paddle
– Start: Saturday, 5 p.m., at Port of Poulsbo buoy.

– Course: Three laps around head of Liberty Bay; total of five miles.

– To enter: $40 entry fee includes shirt. Paddleboard rentals available at race location or Kingston Adventures.