Here we are in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the “Last Big Race Of The Year” aka Paddle Royal. After taking the red eye from LAX with the Mad Scientist (and randomly bumping into Danny Ching, Thomas Maximus and Chance Fielder as we were all about to board) we were picked up at the airport by the event organisers (who’ve gone out of their way to look after the athletes at this event) and taken to the luxury hotel that’s right beside the start/finish line.

We’re in for a big weekend of racing: Not only have a dozen or more of the world’s finest descended on the island, but the unique format of Paddle Royal will see not one but FIVE different races decide the overall event title.

Paddle Royal starts on Saturday with the epic Long Distance race, before we finish on Sunday with four different short-medium distance course and sprint races. Points from all five races are combined (with the distance race being counted twice) and each paddler’s worst result is dropped before the final rankings list is produced. This means that to win the overall crown and take the lion’s share of the $26,000 prize purse, a paddler has got to be an all rounder. But who’s going to step up? Here’s who I think will win…   → READ MORE

Six days until the “last big race of the year” aka Paddle Royal in Puerto Rico. Six days until we see if Danny Ching can finish the year where he knows he belongs. Six days before we know if the King of Europe (Eric Terrien) can go one better than last year. Six days and we’ll see if Chase Kosterlitz can reclaim his crown from 2011. And only six days until the young guns Slater Trout and Jake Jensen try to spoil their party.

Exotic location. Cool race course. Stacked field of talent. Big prize money. Paddle Royal 2013 is going to be a very solid race and a fun way to end the year. We’ll be there in a few days to bring you all the action as it unfolds, but until then here’s another look back at last year’s epic, where Danny and Candice took the wins while Ben Thouard took some absolute classic photos from the air.   → READ MORE

We’re just two weeks out from “the last big race of the year” – aka Paddle Royal in Puerto Rico – and it’s starting to look like it’ll be a pretty stacked event. Some very names, including Mr. Danny Ching, have signed up in the past week which, along with the $26,000 prize purse, could make this one of the races of the year.

Plus if stats are anything to go by, there’s already a lot of interest in this event from the fans. We posted 21 awesome photos from Paddle Royal the other day and the post blew up, quickly becoming one of the top five most-viewed articles on SUPracer.com for the all of 2013.

So who’s heading to Puerto Rico? And more importantly: Who do we think is going to win? Click through for some early predictions…   → READ MORE

The “last big race of the year” is set for December 5th-8th in Puerto Rico, with Paddle Royal set to cap off what has been a pretty massive year of SUP racing. This one is a bit of a favourite among the paddlers and if you check out the pics below you’ll see why. Though even if the exotic location doesn’t do it for you, there’s also the small matter of the massive prize purse on offer… This year the organisers have stepped things up and are putting $26,000 on the line, which comes close to making this the most lucrative stand up paddle race ever.

But just in case you needed any more motivation to book a flight to Puerto Rico, we got our hands on a collection of epic shots from last year’s Paddle Royal. These photos were captured by the awesome Ben Thouard, who was flying around the course enjoying the best seat in the house and scoring some pretty amazing angles of the battle between Danny Ching, Eric Terrien, Ryan Helm, Chase Kosterlitz, Paul Jackson and the rest of the elite field.   → READ MORE

Now that the BOP has come & gone for another year and Dana Point is slowly returning to normal, it’s time to look at ahead to some of the big races remaining on the calendar. At the end of the month we’ve got the first ever Battle of the Paddle to be held outside the United States (Brazil) while next weekend is the big Stand Up World Series Finals in Hawaii. But after that there’s really just one big race left on the calendar before the new year: The 2013 Paddle Royal in Puerto Rico.

The 2013 Paddle Royal is only eight weeks away (December 5th-8th) and looks set to offer world-record prize money. One of the most the most talked about, most lucrative and, from the competitors’ points of view, one of the best races of 2012 is back with an even bigger prize on the line and, by the sounds of it, plenty of top names chasing the cash and glory as well…   → READ MORE

Five days to go until the $20,000 Paddle Royal kicks off in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As we mentioned last week, Danny Ching, Candice Appleby and many of the world’s best Stand Up Paddlers will be chasing the prize money and bragging rights at what is set to be the second most lucrative SUP race of the entire season.

But forget the money, the promo pic above shows off how awesome the location is…   → READ MORE

The 2012 Paddle Royal SUP race in Puerto Rico is still a month away, but if you want to get in on the cheap you’ve only got 48 hours to register at the discounted entry price. The event is happening December 1st & 2nd in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

As the photo above shows, the location isn’t too shabby, plus there’s a $20,000 cash purse on the line, which makes Paddle Royal one of the single most lucrative SUP races of 2012 (the Battle of the Paddle is at #1 with $25k). The first place prize in the men’s elite race alone is worth $6,000, more than most SUP race directors around the world could dream of giving away for an entire event.   → READ MORE

The Caribbean’s biggest SUP race, the Paddle Royal, is stepping things up this year with a huge prize purse and a spot on the Stand Up World Series calendar.

The 2012 Paddle Royal will be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico on the 1st & 2nd of December. It’ll feature $20,000 in cash prizes and officially becomes the season opener for the 2013 Stand Up World Series.   → READ MORE