12 Towers Paddle Festival Kicks Off This Weekend

ERICEIRA, Portugal - Despite the many challenges faced by global sports bodies and regional organizers through the past year, we are proud to announce that the Australasia Qualifier for the 2021 APP World Tour will go ahead as planned this weekend in Queensland.

The legendary 12 Towers Paddle Festival is now in its 10th year, clearly establishing itself as the ultimate proving ground for the Australasia region and as such, the perfect regional qualifier for the APP World Tour in 2021. The Top 2 Men and Top 2 Women (who are not pre-qualified for the 2021 APP World Tour) will earn their place on the prestigious World Championship Tour division of the APP.

We will be confirming the European Qualifier, as well as wildcard confirmations along with the official launch announcement of the 2021 season at the end of May.

Remember, there are always open and entry level divisions across all APP events, so while participation in the World Championship Tour component of the events is through qualification processes such as previous results, current qualifier events and wildcard awards, there are opportunities to participate at every level across all APP Events.

In the meantime, we are excited to see action get back underway with this exciting event from Queensland, Australia this weekend as the 12 Towers Paddle Festival will deliver the goods as the best of the best in the region will finally come back together for an unforgettable weekend of competition and camaraderie.

A big thank you to Troy Pease and his team for all their hard work and perseverance in making this happen, as well as to Queensland and all the supporters of this year's 10th Anniversary edition.

Final APP Schedule to Be Announced in June

Tahiti's Poenaiki Raioha. | Photo courtesy: APP World Tour

Competition is finally coming back! By early June, final details of the 2021 season for both Surfing and Racing will be announced, together with the opening of registration for all 2021 events.

After careful maneuvering to navigate through what has been an incredibly complicated planning process to bring international competition back both safely and successfully, the APP World Tour is excited to deliver a full season of events for 2021 scheduled to start late August and culminate with return to Oahu's North Shore at Sunset Beach in January for the final event of the season.

With 5 Race Events and 3 Surf Events slated for 2021, the APP has been working closely with local authorities and international travel experts to deliver a full season, that takes advantage of regional legs to avoid too much travel back and forth through these challenging times for global travel. The final details and logistic elements will all be included in the formal launch to follow by early June.

In conjunction with this formal schedule launch will be the announcement of wildcards for the 2021 season, together with qualifying athletes from this weekend's regional qualifier in Queensland, Australia and official news regarding the European Qualifier event for this year.

We are extremely excited about the venues the APP World Tour will visit in 2021 and even more so about what the future will bring for 2022 and beyond, as a host of new venues will be being announced over the coming months that will further strengthen the global reach and major market impact of the APP World Tour.

Stay tuned for all the updates and much more at appworldtour.com and @appworldtour

About the APP World Tour & the Waterman League

The APP World Tour is the Professional World Championship Tour for the Sport of Paddlesurfing (also known as SUP / Stand Up Paddling / Paddleboarding), officially sanctioned by the IOC recognized Federation for Stand Up Paddling, the ISA (International Surfing Association). The APP World Tour (previously known as the Stand Up World Tour and Series) has been crowning the sport’s World Champions for both Men & Women across Racing and Surfing since 2010 and has created the all access City Paddle Festival concept around its flagship global events to celebrate inclusivity and participation for all. More Information is available at appworldtour.com