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UPDATE: Check out the complete Battle of the Paddle 2012 RESULTS

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Start getting excited: The biggest SUP race of the year is just over five weeks away…

The 2012 Battle of the Paddle is happening on the 29th and 30th September at Dana Point, California.

This is THE race of the year. The Battle of the Paddle started it all. It was the first major SUP race and has set the template for Stand Up Paddle racing ever since.

The first “BoP” was held at Dana Point in 2008, with the inaugural Elite Race being won by Chuck Patterson and Jenny Kalmbach.

October 11th, 2008. You can look back on that day and say that is when Stand Up Paddle racing as a legitimate sport was born. Since that first year, the men’s Elite Race has been won by:

Battle of the Paddle 2008 (California): Chuck Patterson
Battle of the Paddle 2009 (California): Jamie Mitchell
Battle of the Paddle 2010 (Hawaii): Danny Ching
Battle of the Paddle 2010 (California): Danny Ching
Battle of the Paddle 2011 (Hawaii): Travis Grant
Battle of the Paddle 2011 (California): Connor Baxter
Battle of the Paddle 2012 (California): ???

Meanwhile the women’s event has been absolutely dominated by a certain Candice Appleby, who’s won four of the six Elite Races (and finished runner-up in the other two…).

Battle of the Paddle Elite Race Victories
Candice Appleby: 4x
Danny Ching: 2x
Connor Baxter: 1x
Travis Grant: 1x
Jenny Kalmbach: 1x
Jamie Mitchell: 1x
Chuck Patterson: 1x
Shakira Westdorp: 1x

The Battle of the Paddle is nicknamed the “Super Bowl of SUP” for a reason. It’s the big one.

So stay tuned to SUPracer.com for wall-to-wall coverage of the BoP over the next six weeks. We’ll be on location in southern California right throughout September to bring you interviews with the pros, predictions, pics, and videos in the lead-up to he race. Then of course on race day we’ll bring you all the Battle of the Paddle results as they happen.