BIC SUP has won a Gear of the Year award from Outside Magazine, claiming the prize with their “Wing” range, which includes the 12’6″ Wing ACE-TEC SUP race board.

BIC SUP, a brand once known for it’s tough, all-round recreation boards, is getting more and more serious about SUP racing. The brand is home to Eric Terrien, one of the fastest stand up paddlers in the world, and launched a One Design SUP race series last year as well. BIC also signed well-known SUP identity Nikki Gregg just last month.

Outside Magazine isn’t exactly the most hardcore SUP racing publication, but it’s a big publication with a large, mainstream reach. That’s something SUP racing is often sorely lacking, so it’s very cool to see the sport getting wider recognition. BIC shared “Gear of the Year” honours with the likes of GoPro, Trek and Adidas.

In fact the award BIC SUP won was actually for “Best Stand Up Paddleboard”, meaning the magazine has given SUP it’s own dedicated category. That’s something that would have been unheard of in a major publication a few years ago.

This is the second year Outside Mag has given Stand Up Paddleboards their own category, with the Pau Hana Crossfit board claiming the inaugural award.

A recent BIC SUP One Design race in France, in which every paddler uses the 12’6 Wing