New champions were crowned and a new generation stood up at the Hoe Toa Paddle Championships in New Zealand on the weekend, where Penelope Strickland and Tara Hope earned national titles, Australia’s Lincoln Dews gatecrashed the party with a clean sweep and over 200 paddlers hit the water for a big two days of racing.

In an interview with North Carolina Press Release, Fiona Wylde talks about Annabel Anderson’s hiatus from SUP, the Carolina Cup’s Graveyard Race, her season performance in 2017, and her plans for 2018. Fiona cheers the birth of the newly formed Paddle League, shares her thoughts about the state-of-the-sport, women in SUP, 14-foot boards, and her ongoing challenge with Type 1 diabetes.

The sun is starting to shine, ice is melting and spring is starting to peek it’s head around the corner. With temperatures rising and waterways defrosting into lakes and rivers again, it’s time to start getting geared up and ready to get back on the water and out of the winter hibernation. Here, we’ve put together a list of SUP gear, accessories, and of course boards for everyone from a beginner to the advanced SUP'er for the 2018 Spring paddle boarding season, so there's sure to be something in this guide for everyone!

About the board:The Starboard Tikhine has a really nice package with a really nice bag and accessories. It comes with everything you need except for a paddle so take note of that. The board is definitely very creative oriented. The graphics on the deck are a bit blurred though so keep that in mind to check out before-hand. Aside from that, there’s a beautiful color coordination between the graphics and traction pad and there’s also added handles that are useful. Read more HERE.

his year, 1,798 Americans will have the opportunity to get outside and enjoy ongoing outdoor experiences, thanks to prAna Explorer Grants. As part of these nationwide grants, Environmental Charter Schools received $5,000 to support its work to engage 120 students from Environmental Charter Middle School in SUPKids Camp that teaches kids water safety and environmental education outdoors with stand up paddle boarding.

Join hundreds of local NZ and International paddlers on New Zealand’s Hibiscus Coast for a fun weekend of paddling workshops, beach races in and out of the surf, inshore flatwater racing and downwind distance paddling at the NZSUP National Festival of Paddleboarding, proudly brought to you by Sol Republic, Magrette, Olukai and Maui Jim.

News from the Stecher Twins; in their new project WINTER SUP - „The Lost Tapes“ The Bavarian Twins dedicate everything to their home and the most beautiful side of the winter. They want to present the sport as well as the beauty of Bavaria and their hometown Kaufbeuren including the best SUP spots through a four-part online video series.

2017 was a year full of adventure, thrills, learning, and more. There were a handful of trends that caught on this year that caught the attention of our editorial staff here at Supconnect. Here are the biggest trends of 2017.

Each year in any sport there are a number of athletes and performances that stand apart from the others. Whether it’s a comeback from behind, world record or dominating performance these achievements don’t go unnoticed. In 2017 there were incredible performances and feats that we didn’t know were possible. Here we list the top 10 most inspirational athletes and performances of 2017.

The Iron Mana is one of the nicest, hardest, most beautiful, grueling but also unique events I know. It is not one of my long endurance races but nonetheless, challenging in many other ways. Some call it a boot camp, some call it their daily routine.

European SUPsurf Champion and Starboard athlete Benoit Carpentier hit the waters in Morocco to enjoy some off season foiling - Moroccan style. Watch Ben ride along the coast dressed as a local, in djellaba, on the Starboard Hypernut with GoFoil.

Race records have been smashed at the sixth Stand Up Surf Shop King of the Cut with the fastest eight male competitors all beating the previous fastest time for the 24km downwind race in Mandurah, Western Australia over the weekend.