We’re just days away from the biggest race of the year, the Pacific Paddle Games, and right now virtually the entire paddleboarding world is descending on southern California. SUP Racer included.

Because after missing out on a few of my all-time favourite races over the past six weeks (JM, the Gorge and 11 Cities), I couldn’t miss this one…

So thanks to some International Date Line time travel, I landed at LAX 4 hours before I took off from Brisbane (it was actually a 13 hour flight, but it’s fun to think we technically went back in time).

Right now I’m southbound en route to the Starboard dealers meeting down in San Diego to check out the new 2017 boards, then hopefully find a few waves with Jamie Mitchell and the Quickblade crew up in Newport before heading to Dana Point on Friday morning.

The big change to this year’s Pacific Paddle Games is that it’s a three-day event, however the ultra-slick webcast will only be running on Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 1st/2nd). But what about the action/excitement/carnage of the elite surf race qualifying heats on Friday 30th September?

Well to make sure you don’t miss a thing, I’ll be running one of those EuroTour-style Facebook Live streams that we had so much fun doing in Europe this summer. It won’t be ESPN, but it should give you a nice little window into the festivities at Doheny State Beach.

See you in a few days…

(Also: Just had to share the shot up top that I snapped as we flew past New Caledonia. Thanks Virgin Australia for taking the scenic route.)