APP World Tour Postponed to 2022

The Association of Paddlesurf Professionals announced that their World Tour in 2021 would be postponed to February of 2022 to protect the legitimacy of the Tour and deliver the best possible product for both athletes and partners.

After navigating through a year of challenging circumstances to launch a condensed 2021 schedule, only for public events in Hawaiʻi to be canceled until further notice, the APP said they have been committed to finding a solution and delivering the much-anticipated return to competition.

Following a string of additional hurdles, from government decisions to obstacles faced by local organizers and partners as well as the global travel restrictions, it has been deemed preferable to kick off a full season afresh in 2022 rather than try to force a shortened and challenging season in 2021.

Update on Remaining 2021 Races, Events

1) Carolina Cup: moving forward as planned from Nov. 4 through Nov. 7

This event will go ahead as planned as an official APP Event, featuring both distance and sprint races as planned, together with the prize money across both Distance and Sprints from Nov. 4 through 7. However, given that there will be no official Tour for 2021, it will serve as a qualifier for 2022 and of course be covered by the APP Media Team.

2) Gran Canaria: postponed to 2022

Unfortunately despite much of the last month spent trying to find a realistic solution, due to the challenges faced by local organizers as a direct result of COVID enforced restrictions, the travel complications and the ability to secure Partners for the event as a result, there will be no 2021 edition of the Gran Canaria Pro-Am for either Surfing or Racing. However, we will see this event back on the Calendar for 2022 so stay tuned for the return of this iconic event.

3) Paris: Traditional Paris Crossing Distance Race to take place on Dec. 5

The traditional Paris Crossing Distance Race will still go ahead as planned and the APP and some of its Media Team will be present at the event. However, due to there being no pool for 2021 and the prohibitive costs involved in delivering an alternative venue for the sprints, there will be no sprint racing for this year and it will not be an Official World Tour Race for 2021 for the reasons cited above.

4) Sunset Beach: postponed to January 2023 (as 2022 Final)

As it stands, public events on the North Shore of Oahu are prohibited until COVID restrictions are reviewed and amended, so it has been deemed too uncertain to move forward with this event given that we are unsure if we will even be able to make it happen due to government rules

5) World Championship Tour Finals: To take place as planned, but as World Tour Opener in February 2022

The February event will go ahead as planned, but as the World Tour Opener rather than the Finals, with announcements to follow with the provisional schedule released later this month.