The Supconnect Weekly Recap, 11-19-2013

SAN DIEGO, California - Welcome to the Supconnect Weekly Recap, our countdown of the biggest news, reviews, interviews and features surrounding the world of Stand Up Paddleboarding. This week we’re bringing you another sample of the best stories covered by ourselves and other publications. If you’ve got anything pressing, impressive, relevant, weird or worth reading to add to the list, don’t be shy to share the scoop via Facebook.

5. Wanderlust Is Coming

~   HEAT SCORE {29}   ~ If you're looking for a good way to feed your soul with SUP yoga, good music, amazing food and happy vibes, bless yourself with a ticket to Oahu early next year. From February 27 till March 2, the Turtle Bay Resort will host one of the world's grooviest festivals - Wanderlust. The lineup so far is stacked, with Donavan Frankenreiter, Moby and Mike Love headlining the music, while Gerry Lopez, Jenn Perell and a host of other incredible instructors will lead the yoga sessions. As a real testament to the growth and popularity of SUP yoga, this year sees a considerably bigger number of SUP yoga and surf sessions added to the schedule - the only serious pain you'll be feeling at the end of it all will be stiff muscles from four days of yoga and fire dancing. You can bet your hand-woven hemp booties this is going to be one of the most wonderfully colorful and feel-good ways to kick off 2014.

Click here to see more.

4. A 9 Year Old's First Downwinder

~·HEAT SCORE {35}· If we could all go back in time, one thing most of us would change is the age we started paddling. Groms are fearless, nimble and able to pick things up in no time. Basically the opposite of what it's like as an older person with wobbly knees and gnarled fingers. We were stoked to see this video pop up earlier, showing 9 year old Cape Tonion, Cameron Tripney, on his first downwind run from Milerton to Big Bay - with his dad. The video is too awesome - you can see how stoked he is and the energy he exerts through a pretty long stretch. If this is him now, can you imagine what he'll be doing by the time he's, say, twelve?

3. Quickblade Steps Up For KelsKids

The Quickblade team

~·HEAT SCORE {40}·~ Last week we reported a story about three paddle boards that were stolen from KelsKids, a nonprofit organization that provides paddle boarding, swimming and aquatic safety programs for children who have diagnosed disabilities. Directly after hearing the news, the good people at Quickblade stepped up and sent over some paddles, which will go a long way towards making the kids very happy. To find out more about KelsKids and how the organization uses paddle boarding to make a difference, we spoke to Kellie Maier, the person who started the organization and wrote the program.

To read more, click here.

2. Tips For Paddling in Winter

Image: Ness Knight

~·HEAT SCORE {52}· As the weather starts to cool down, we need to change our approach to get the most out of paddle boarding - after all, some of the most beautiful conditions arise in the chillier winter months. Earlier this year we shared some insights from Ocean Rodeo about their range of dry suits for tackling winter in extreme destinations, like Vancouver and Alaska, but today we’re going to look at a 5 ways to stay warm and safe when paddling in a more temperate winter climate that still cools down, but doesn’t freeze.

Last week we broke down five useful tips to making the colder season a big one for paddling. To see the, click here. 

1. SUPCONNECT Woman OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED

~·HEAT SCORE {90}·~ After two months of voting, we are very pleased to announce the Supconnect Woman of the Year and final results up for 2013. Below is a list of incredibly talented and diverse woman who excel at a range of facets that make stand up paddling such a diverse and awesome sport. As per the previous years, the Supconnect Awards are based on an open voting system that puts you, the reader, in charge of who wins. The criteria is still based on four qualities that we ask YOU (the reader) to vote on, which makes the awards are open to paddlers from around the world, be they pro’s, amateurs or ambassadors - contest results are not the most important thing to us.

Follow the link to see the full results.

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