What was once considered a fringe discipline in stand up paddling has fast become mainstream. Cars with 4 or 5 boards strapped to the top are common sights on popular downwind runs around Australia, even dedicated trailers made to carry an entire teams boards with ease. Specifically designed boards are shaped, events are organized and stand up paddlers wait in anticipation for (quite literally) the green light to head out for their next downwind paddling fix.

But some spots get all the glory!

The Gold Coast run from Currumbin gets a lot of press, with huge rolling ocean swells and the now-famous 12 Towers event. Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay gets almost weekly videos posted in the forums (granted, most are from one particular individual!) with a solid crew of paddlers regularly getting together. WA see's the King of the Cut every year, and the Mandurah Duel, and almost daily downwind runs with the afternoon Seabreeze pumping in. But sometimes the most unlikely places have hardcore groups of downwind paddlers who are sitting quietly on world class runs, if the right conditions pop up.

"Can't imagine anywhere in Oz getting much better than that. If I was into racing, I'd be lobbying whoever is in charge of the QLD and AUS titles and doing that run with a few days waiting period and you'd have a race to rival the King of the Cut..."

That's a direct quote from a stand up paddler who just paddled the run from the Port of Brisbane in QLD, during a 25+ knot south easterly. It's a big call to rival the King of the Cut, which brings international paddlers and huge media attention to the sport! So what's going on up in Queensland that makes this run so good?

Firstly, Moreton Bay is very, very shallow. Even half a day's worth of wind will kick up some great wind swell, plenty powerful for modern downwind boards. When the big south easterlies blow in January to February for five or more days, this swell gets huge, steep and fun! The shape of the bay also means you're paddling straight downwind. No battling out sideways, it's a short sheltered paddle out to the wind, and then boom! Downwind all the way home. There's access by car to any point along the way for those paddlers with gear breakages, phone coverage at any point, on any carrier, and friendly locals who will always offer a pickup.

Adding to the experience, the Seabreeze.com.au forecast algorithms are bang-on for South Easterlies in Brisbane. If the green arrows start at 9am on Seabreeze, feel confident to be standing on the boat ramp by 8.59am, because it's coming. It's more than 'just' green arrow wind too, South Easterlies frequently get up to 35 knots on the first days of a Southerly!

If you're still not convinced, check out this video of Dale Chapman doing the run last week on the DC NSP 17'10" downwind board. There's some solid rides in there!

Look out for a Brisbane based event that attracts some international paddlers in the near future, you can bet the team from the Bris SUP club are working on it!

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