I’m stoked to announce we’ve partnered with the crew at SIC to highlight one of the biggest, best and funnest parts of the SUP racing season: Downwind Month.

When it comes to paddling, I’m convinced there’s nothing better than riding bumps and catching endless glides out in the ocean. It’s surely the pinnacle of not only SUP racing but stand up paddling in general. Watching those masters of the ocean navigate their giant boards along epic stretches of the Hawaiian coastline is almost hypnotic. Paddling, surfing, gliding and just generally having a whole lotta fun. Downwinding is epic.

And now thanks to SIC we’re going to be delivering all things downwinder over the next few months. The focus will naturally be on Hawaii, the traditional home of downwind racing, though we’ll be highlighting some of the best downwind runs around the world as well.

Downwind Month 2014 is split in two: We’ve got Mini Downwind Month starting right now and running for the next couple of weeks. Then in July we’ve got the real Downwind Month, when the paddling world descends on the Hawaiian Islands for an all you can eat buffet of downwind goodness.

Downwind Month coverage will include all the big races, behind-the-scenes interviews + insights from some of the downwind masters, awesome clips from some of the world’s fastest runs and plenty more.

Mini Downwind Month – May

The first half of May kicks off the downwind season on Maui, with the Paddle Imua race on May 3rd and then the big OluKai extravaganza on May 10th. Two big downwind races back-to-back. Both of these races tackle the world famous Maliko run on Maui’s north shore and are a great chance to watch some of the world’s best paddlers try and match it against Hawaii’s downwind specialists.

Downwind Month – July

The serious action gets moving in July, which is the traditional “downwind month” in Hawaii.  During July we’ll see plenty of racing and downwind action on Oahu, Maui and Molokai, with highlights including the “best downwind run in the world” (aka the Maui 2 Molokai race) and then the big one: Molokai 2 Oahu on July 27.

We’ll also have LIVE play-by-play coverage of the M2O (even better than what we delivered last year).

But before we get to the holy grail of ocean paddling, we’ve got the fun little Mini Downwind Month to enjoy first… That all begins tomorrow with the Paddle Imua race on Maui, so check back in over the weekend for the highlights.

We decided to partner with SIC for Downwind Month because these guys are synonymous with SUP downwinding. SIC make most of the boards that win Hawaii’s big races, while they also have a strong race team that will almost certainly feature on every podium. The Tahitian giant killer Georges Cronsteadt, Maui locals (and Maliko experts) Jeremy Riggs and Livio Menelau, the “Downwind Queen” Andrea Moller, plus two of the strongest women in the world right now – Lina Augaitis and Sonni Honscheid.

In short, SIC and downwinding go hand in hand.

So if you love riding bumps then get set for a big season with SIC Downwind Month. In the meantime sit back and enjoy a couple of epic clips from Maui that’ll help set the mood…