April 12, 2012
by Christopher Parker (@wheresbossman)

CANCELLED: CamSur World Paddle Challenge, Philippines


Looks like the Stand Up World Series’ CamSur World Paddle Challenge has been cancelled.

The event, which would have featured Knockout Sprint and Long Distance SUP races, was originally set for April 19-22. We heard it was going to be rescheduled til mid-June, but now it’s officially been pushed back until 2013.

This was set to be the first major event of the year for the new Stand Up World Series. With a bunch of elite paddlers chasing the $20,000 prize purse, it was also going to be one of the most lucrative Stand Up Paddle races of 2012.

This couldn’t have been an easy decision for the Waterman League (the organisers of both the Stand Up World Series and the surfing Stand Up World Tour), especially seeing it was set to be one of the marquee events for World Series’ inaugural season.

Considering the location, size of the event and timing of this news, it’s sure to cause a few headaches for not only the organisers but also the paddlers: SUP racers from Europe, Hawaii, and Australia were all set to fly into the Philippines next week.

The event was to be based @ CamSur Watersports Park in the Philippines

The rescheduling of the CamSur World Paddle Challenge means that next month’s La Torche event will now hold the first Stand Up World Series race for 2012 (get the full Stand Up World Series race schedule).

If the Stand Up World Series can pull of its goal of creating a global, unified SUP racing league (with big money and big talent on offer at every race), it would be pretty epic for the sport of stand up paddle racing.

Though the inaugural season has had more than its fair share of scheduling changes, so 2012 is looking like it could be more of a test run than the final product.

Official statement from the Waterman League below…

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CamSur World Paddle Challenge: Official Release
 
After much deliberation and following unforseen and unavoidable circumstances, the decision has been taken to postpone the CamSur World Paddle Challenge until April of 2013 (18 – 21st).
 
While we are disappointed not to be able to bring you the action from this groundbreaking event in 2012, a selection of elite athletes will be down in the Philippines scouting the location and laying the foundations for the large scale version of the event to take place in 2013.
 
Stay tuned for highlights from this exploratory mission at www.standupworldseries.com, as well as the latest from the 2012 Stand Up World Series.
 
Next up, the La Torche Pro in France on the 4th – 5th May, running in conjunction with stop 2 of the 2012 Stand Up World Surfing Tour.
 
Aloha,
 
The Waterman League

 

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