France is still one of surfing's unsung heroes, with monster waves regularly rolling in to its coastline thanks to some freakishly strong winds that blow from the North Atlantic into the Bay of Biscay. Stand Up Paddlers in France have long been touting their conditions as some of the gnarliest in the world too, and this week when Nicolas Jarossay and the Teulade brothers released a video of them on a stand up paddling downwinder in 50 knots, nobodies arguing.

Luckily for them they found a nice place to get the boards off the roof racks, with a sheltered little cove to help them get out into the chaos. Once they paddle out there among the container ships and wind turbines, it's about as crazy as it gets in downwind paddling. Waves are monstrous, steep and close together; board speeds are verging on planning with just the windage on each paddler. Think 30 knots is awesome? 50 knots goes from awesome to survival!

One of the paddlers, Nicolas Jarossay, is the same guy who's planning on the Atlantic crossing in January. Last week we published a story on his planning for 5000km journey , complete with another great video from the same crew who made this one.

Expertly shot by the professional film crew at Horue, this short clip is certain to get you pumped for your next downwinder, and might just put France on the map for stand up paddling downwinders, as well as big wave surfing!