Following an international game of musical chairs and a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing, the finalised Stand Up World Series schedule for 2014 has now been released. The big news is that the Finals @ Turtle Bay – the Series’ marquee event and the last stop on the tour – has been moved back one week to avoid a clash with the Battle of the Paddle. Other updates include the official move of Hamburg and a potential for Bilbao to get back on the World Series.

However it’s the move to prevent a clash with the BOP that was the biggest and most interesting update when World Series organisers released their latest press release this morning.   → READ MORE

Remember that public service announcement we put out a few days ago? The one that said don’t book flights to Hamburg because there was a strong rumour that the event was about to change its previously confirmed dates? Well, unfortunately the rumour is true…

In a decision that can only be described as *facepalm*, organisers of the SUP World Cup (also known as the Stand Up World Series Hamburg) have decided to move their event, both the dates and the location. Instead of their scheduled June 28 weekend, the event will now run on July 19 & 20. And instead of inner-city Hamburg, the race will now be held 1-2 hours to the north, on the sparsely-populated island of Fehmarn. This move comes despite all logic saying it’s a bad idea…   → READ MORE

Ok so unless you were living under a rock the past few days, you would have heard about the SUP Athletes Association’s “Ugly Truth About Prize Money”  article by now. The story detailed the rarely-mentioned but all-too-common practice of SUP races failing to pay their prize money on time.

Well if you’ve been following the ensuing debate, you’ll also know that the the Stand Up World Series has taken the brunt of the fallout. With fairly good reason too: the Stand Up World Series has failed to pay on time at multiple events, with athletes sometimes waiting 4-8 months to collect their prize cheques. Sure, there have always been reasons (some of them even quite legitimate), however the fact remains that it’s been the athletes who have had to cop it on the chin.

Well now the Stand Up World Series has given us their official response. Will this put an end to the drama? Click to read the full quote…   → READ MORE

Just a friendly public service announcement: Don’t book your tickets to Hamburg for the Stand Up World Series event in June just yet, looks like we could be in for yet another date change…

While the World Series schedule was supposedly finalised two months ago, it sounds like a few events aren’t so certain after all. One of those is Hamburg, which, if the date change rumour proves to be true, could seriously mess up the European schedule (and the travel plans of many international paddlers).   → READ MORE

The 2014 Stand Up World Series schedule has just been spotted, with next year’s tour looking set to be a slimmed-down affair featuring six stops around the world plus the “Finals at Turtle Bay” that traditionally finish the season. There’s also a new stop set for Australia, which, if confirmed, would join the established events of Abu Dhabi, Brazil, Hamburg, Chicago, Huntington and Turtle Bay.

Seven events is the smallest, most streamlined season the World Series has aimed for since its inception in late 2011. This new lineup of events now provides for an even, six-month “season” between early April and early October, which most paddlers will agree is a good move.   → READ MORE

The waves at Turtle Bay delivered a pretty stunning finale to the 2013 Stand Up World Series on the weekend.

We’ve already posted an in-depth recap, videos and a close look at Kai Lenny and “that” wave… so we’ll spare you the trouble of reading anything else and just let these epic pics do the talking. Here are the best shots from Sunday’s sprint races…   → READ MORE

One of the more competitive SUP races of the year will be happening on Oahu’s North Shore this weekend, as the 2013 Stand Up World Series wraps up with its “Finals @ Turtle Bay” event. While the two days of racing will feature a pretty big stack of the world’s fastest young paddlers, most of the eyes will be on Connor Baxter and Kai Lenny, who have battled head-to-head in the Series all year and are the only two guys vying for the title.

Meanwhile on the women’s side, Annabel Anderson will be doing a victory lap as her flawless 2013 means she’s already wrapped up the overall World Series title…   → READ MORE

We’ve just wrapped up the Huntington Beach Pro, where many of the world’s best paddlers battled it out in the penultimate leg of the 2013 Stand Up World Series. Yesterday (Saturday) saw the knockout sprints while today (Sunday) it was the distance race.

Jake Jensen and Kai Lenny were the standouts on the men’s side, while 15-year-old Ke’ale Dorries from Australia surprised plenty by sweeping the women’s event. Click through for results, pics and a recap of the action…   → READ MORE

Boss Man’s note: Maui boy and Starboard team rider Zane Schweitzer recorded another solid result at the Stand Up World Series event in San Francisco on the weekend, coming in third place overall behind Kai Lenny (2nd) and team mate Connor Baxter (1st).

Now with his trademark enthusiasm and stoke, Zane has given us this recap of the action in San Fran.

Click through to check it out…   → READ MORE