It's almost here! August 18-19, the Gorge welcomes Stand Up Paddlers from around the world to the Naish Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge! The event features course races, an eight mile downwinder, relay race, product demos, and more! This year's Challenge will feature over $18,000 in prize money and will be the World Paddle Association's Northwest Championship. Check out the official website (gorgepaddlechallenge.com) for complete info and video of last year's great event! Give us a call at Big Winds at 888-509-4210 if we can help you in any way. We'll see you at the event!

Big Winds has a huge selection of race and tour SUPs and we've tested them all!

Also, don't miss an opportunity the day before (August 17) for aspiring young SUPers to learn from Kai Lenny at the positively Kai Grom Sup. For more info click HERE.

Willamette SUP Cup
Team Big Winds showed up in force at the Willamette SUP Cup in early July in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Check out the full story HERE.

Starboard
Wide-Point review
TJ enjoyed a great weekend of SUP surfing on the Oregon Coast, recently on the 2012 Starboard Wide-Point 8'10". The shorter length allowed him to make bottom turns without having to trim the board off to the rail so aggressively, and the tapered tail helped too. He came away feeling it's a great board for building confidence in the surf. Check out his review.

July and August are fabulous months at Big Winds, when the wind barely stops and the shop is hopping. Don't miss out on the great 2012 products we've stocked up with, before they're gone. We have demos and rentals of just about everything!

The Starboard Kode series have got you covered for wave, freestyle and freeride. From the smallest 68 liters, perfect for high wind Gorge days, to 103 liters for cruiser days - plus the 74, 80, 86 and 94 - there's something for everyone. We love these boards, and think you will too.

Starboard Futura the highly refined freerace boards, come in 101, 111, and 121 for fast, high-performance flat-water freeriding that's super comfortable and super fun.

Finally, we've got limited stock of JP Australia boards. Give us a holler. We know these versatile, excellent boards inside and out. Get them while they last!

The Naish Chopper the game-changing sail that we've all been raving about, has been super popular this season. We just got another shipment in, so we have them in stock in all sizes. Read all about our tests on Steve's blog and Erin's Gorge report. You'll love not having to over analyze your sail size.

The weather is great, the water warm and the Big Winds windsurfing school is in full swing! Contact us about individual or group lessons for adults and kids: 888-509-4210 or rentals@bigwinds.com. And take note of the upcoming Women's Clinic! (see below)

Women's Clinic August 11-12
We have one more Women's Clinic scheduled this summer for August 11-12. Our Women's Clinics, led by instructor extraordinaire Heidi Chapel, have proved to be a superb time for female camaraderie around the sport we all love and want to improve in. Whether your next step is to nail planing jibes, learn to jump, or get into the harness or footstraps, the Women's Clinic is designed to take your sailing to the next level, including rigging and tuning tips. We have a small instructor to student ratio and pick each day's sailing spot based on conditions. For complete info on our two-day Women's Clinic, click HERE. Be sure to reserve early because space is limited. Call 888-509-4210 or email rentals@bigwinds.com.

20% off 2012 Naish Torch, Park and Bolt
For freeride kiting, the Park offers 3-strut simplicity and a nice combination of a C-kite feel, with the depower of most SLE kites. The Bolt is a great freeride option if you're looking for stability in gusty conditions. It relaunches with ease, and predictability. The Torch is a Wakestyle design with aggressive turning and smooth power. A true C-kite designed for competition freestyle.

15% off Cabrinha Switchblade or Drifter with Spectrum board package
Hurry because these packages are going fast! The Drifter is a lightweight but durable kite dedicated to surf, yet it shines as a freestyle kite for wakeskating, skimboarding or flat water freestyle. The 2012 Switchblade has a generous wind range/depower when set to "Free-ride", and an ultra stable feel when unhooked on "Wake-style" mode. The Switchblade will continue to be a kite that performs wonderfully for all disciplines of riding! For TJ's comparison of the Switchblade and Drifter, read his blog post HERE. While supplies last!

2013 Switchblades and Drifters arrive soon!
Don't despair, because Big Winds is offering a pre-purchase program for 2013 Cabrinha Switchblades and Drifters. These new releases are due at Big Winds in mid-August. Please call toll-free to pre-order yours today!

For all Big Winds kites and boards
Big Winds kite pages are sorted by types of kites and boards, depending on whether you're looking for Entry Level, Race-Light Air, Freeride, Freestyle or Surf. Click HERE for complete details. We hope this helps you navigate to what you're looking for.