Drawing on his lifelong experience in the ocean, Shuri 'Shrimpy' Araki navigates a beautiful downwind course flawlessly to take the win for the day, but also the weekend with his 2nd place finish in the sprints.
With the world's best SUP athletes descending on the beautiful coastal town of Viana do Castelo in Portugal - 2023 European Capital of Sport - tension is mounting as we take a look at who to watch out for at this unique new Tour stop.
The APP is excited to introduce the Viana SUP Open, an all-new venue for 2023 that will bring the World Tour to Portugal for the first time.
Following an exhilarating weekend of competition in Seoul, the Asian Champions of the APP have emerged victorious. Rai Taguchi from Japan achieved remarkable bullet wins in both the Sprint and Distance events, securing the ultimate triumph. Meanwhile, Sujeong Lim, hailing from Korea, claimed the distance victory and secured a commendable second place in the sprints, thereby clinching the overall victory in the women's category.
Connor Baxter does it again and Fiona Wylde stages a comeback for the ages at the Alicante SUP Open. The first stop of the 2023 APP World Racing Tour did not disappoint as intense competition leads to the crowning of APP originals, Connor Baxter and Fiona Wylde, as champions.
The 2023 Racing World Tour will commence in Alicante on Sunday 30th April which will be followed by the APP Asian Championships in Seoul 13th–14th May.
At the finale of the 2022 Racing Tour, Connor Baxter and April Zilg claimed the World Titles while Shuri 'Shrimpy' Araki and Melanie Lafenetre got their first wins on the APP World Tour to close the season.
France's Titouan Puyo and Spain's Esperanza Barreras were crowned Paris SUP Open Champions, and 1,000 paddlers from 30 nations took to the River Seine in freezing temperatures for the biggest stand up paddle race of the year.
The 2022 Gran Canaria Pro Am had it all. Leco Salazar was crowned as the first ever SUP Longboard World Champion. We saw the new generation of SUP Surfers make their debut on the international SUP scene. And in front of a huge crowed at El Lloret, we watched Kaede Inoue and Benoit Carpentier claim the World Titles in perfect conditions.
The battle for championship glory will continue in Europe for stops 4 and 5 of the racing world tour! The APP will embark upon the road to the World Championship finals in Jeddah via Paris and Alicante to establish who is truly the best racer in the world.
This month, the APP World Tour will be returning to beautiful Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to host the world's best paddling athletes at stop #1 of the World Surfing Tour.
Over the weekend, the inaugural stop for the APP World Tour in Korea delivered spectatular action with wins secured by Rai Taguchi, Caroline Kuntzel, and April Zilg.