The seventh annual Mickey Munoz Mongoose Cup to benefit the Sport of Kings Foundation will be held Saturday April 9, 2016 at Dana Cove Park (Baby Beach), Dana Point Harbor. Mickey and his friends will join many of the world’s best paddlers for a special fundraiser and a great day of paddling fun and competition.

At only 14 years of age, Dave de Armas has a lot to be proud of. Not only is Dave an excellent student but he is bilingual and a world traveler. Oh, and did we mention a two-time National SUP Surf and Race champion in his home country of Puerto Rico? Dave has also been honored with a nomination by the FSPR (Surfing Federation of Puerto Rico) to represent Puerto Rico as a SUP Surf and Race Athlete to compete in the ISA SUP Worlds in Fiji in November, 2016. With aspirations to be SUP World Champ and to have a career as a chiropractor, this kid has a big and bright future.

Earlier this year we introduced you to an incredible man from Brazil, Jonas Letieri. Jonas holds one of the most inspirational stories of overcoming obstacles and tragedies that are thrown at you in life and overcoming these obstacles against all odds. This short film from Quickblades about Jonas Letieri and his inspirational story is a must watch.

Michael Booth is sneaking up the world rankings list and after joining Starboard SUP’s Dream Team roster he’s gained a huge support system which will likely help to transform this dark horse into a full blown threat at each and every event he enters. We caught up with Boothy (as he’s known to his friends) and asked him a few questions to learn more about his roots and where he plans on taking his SUP career. Have a look:

The 30th annual Santa Cruz Paddlefest was one for the books. The weather was perfect, waves consistent, and company incredible. Big thanks to Matt Hoff for all his hard work organizing and all the athletes who absolutely tore it up! The Werner Paddles team showed up in full force and paddled their hearts out at this year’s event. Werner released a nice recap of the event.

When I first picked up a paddle and stood on a board in 2010 I felt scared, shaky and out of my element. But after an hour on the water I returned my board feeling confident; if I could go from falling every five seconds to walking on water in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico than I could do anything! I knew immediately I wanted to get more women on the water. I wanted to empower other women through stand up paddling and SUP fitness classes.

22-year-old Zane Schweitzer has been crowned the 2016 Ultimate Waterman. Schweitzer, a late call up for 2016, was the most consistent surfer of the multi discipline event winning three of the seven disciplines contested. Today Schweitzer placed third in the 16km Stand Up Paddleboard Race which was enough to clinch the title over runner up Danny Ching (USA).

Hawaiian athlete Zane Schweitzer has claimed his third discipline of the 2016 Ultimate Waterman in a thrilling head-to-head duel with defending champion Daniel Kereopa of New Zealand. The longboard discipline was held at Piha Beach, Auckland today in clean waves of less than 1.0m. Meanwhile, Danny Ching wins the Underwater Sprint and swim discipline pushing him into second.

On Saturday, April 16, Los Angeles Waterkeeper invites clean water supporters and outdoors enthusiasts to Stand Up for Clean Water — one of the largest stand-up paddle boarding events in Los Angeles and a Waterkeeper Alliance SPLASH Series Event presented nationally by Toyota and locally by Whole Foods Market.

The International Surfing Association (ISA) has confirmed today that the 2016 ISA World Stand Up Paddle (SUP) and Paddleboard Championships will be hosted in Fiji – the first time that an ISA event will be held in the Pacific island chain, further highlighting the global growth and expansion of SUP Surfing and Racing.

Last year we here at Supconnect had the pleasure of attending the Air France Paddle Festival and we will definitely be back again this year as it was an event that is not to be missed. In case you needed any help deciding whether or not to attend the 2016 Air France Paddle Festival, here are five reasons why you should definitely do it:

The 2016 Santa Cruz Paddlefest presented by Starboard is about to kick off this Friday, March 18th and the event is going to be epic. With an excellent forecast of head-high to overhead surf and an athlete list of BIG names in the sport, this event is going to be huge.