Starboard SUP announced this week that they will be launching a new initiative – growing the National Grassroots Team Program in the USA by enlisting 100 new Brand Ambassadors. “We see a lot of potential in the US market,” said Starboard CEO and brand visionary, Svein Rasmussen, “…and it all starts on the front lines with passionate locals who, like us, want to take SUP to the next level".

After a month-long period of nominating and voting for your SUP favorites of 2015 the final winners for the 2015 Supconnect Polls are here! So without further ado, here are the winners for the Supconnect Polls 2015.

Can you believe 2015 is almost over?! With the holidays right around the corner, it's time to think about getting something awesome for the SUP'er in your life so here at Supconnect, we've put together a gift/gear guide of the newest and coolest items to have recently hit the shelves and racks on the SUP market.

At the 2015 French National SUP Championships it was European powerhouses Titouan Puyo and Celine Guedson who took the 2015 championship. After a long weekend of racing, Puyo and Guedson slayed both the long distance race as well as the technical race for the men and women, giving the the two athletes an outstanding lead against their competitors and the overall victories for the event.

Originally from Hungary but now living and calling New Zealand home young paddlers Daniel and Bruno Hasulyo are Starboard SUP's newest members to their stacked roster of talented athletes. Here, Daniel Hasulyo dishes on what it is like joining one of the best teams in the sport of SUP.

In August 2015, Starboard team athlete Benoit Carpentier along with the organization Surf4smile created by his brother Mathieu, his sister Alix and a few friends, went on a 10-day mission to Madagascar to meet one community of surfers on the east coast of the island. A main part of their mission was to conduct free screening tests (hepatitis, malaria, HIV and syphilis) and health care for the local population.

Last month before heading to neighboring island Oahu for the Stand Up World Series Finals, Zane Schweitzer noticed a pod of dolphins passing by directly out in the waters in front of his house.

Every year in the men's division, and the past two years in the women's division, Canadians captured the top standup paddle board victories in the punishing 6.5-mile Surf to Sound Challenge. Now celebrating its' 5th anniversary, the family-friendly USA-Canada rivalry resumes in Wrightsville Beach, NC, November 6-8, 2015.

The 4th Annual Chattajack paddle board and kayak race is set to go off this weekend and it's guaranteed to be a great race and bigger than ever. The Chattajack is a 31-mile SUP/Kayak race in Chattanooga, Tennessee with the Chattajack course running the length of the Tennessee River gorge.

It was an epic close to the 2015 season at Turtle Bay, as we saw extremely competitive racing and dramatic finishes in both the long distance and sprint racing that led to the crowning of 2 new World Champions for 2015.

Connor Baxter, the winner of the 2015 Pacific Paddle Games' overall title weighs in on his win at the event, his overall experience and more. Take a look.

Candice Appleby finished the season unbeaten after another win, but she had to work hard here in Hawaii after being pushed all the way by the rising young star Fiona Wylde. For the men, it was ratings leader Kai Lenny who was able to secure his third Stand Up World Series Title after winning Stop #4 on the 2015 World Series with a win in the Sprint racing in a climatic finish at Turtle Bay Resort.