UPDATE: Check out all the details about the European SUP Racing Tour presented by NSP

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SUP racing in Europe is blowing up. From the 25th May to the end of June, we’re going to see six straight weeks of big events that boast a combined prize purse of $80,000. That’s attracted many of the world’s best paddlers to Europe, with the likes of Connor Baxter, Jamie Mitchell, Travis Grant and a tonne of other big names set to battle it out in France, Germany and Spain.

We’ve informally nicknamed it the European SUP Racing Tour (which we’ll be “launching” early next week). The European SUP Racing Tour isn’t official, we simply invented the name here on SUPracer.com to highlight just how big stand up paddle racing in Europe is becoming.

We’re not interested in crowning champions or sanctioning races. Plenty of real organisations do that already. So the European SUP Racing Tour isn’t an official series, it’s just a way of tying together all the big events that are happening back-to-back.

Almost all of the races listed below are standalone events, so we figured someone just needed to connect the dots. There’s going to be too many big races, too much prize money and too many elite international paddlers in Europe this Summer that it was just crying out for a nickname.

The European SUP Racing Tour.

Six weeks… eight races… several of the world’s best paddlers… $80,000 prize money.

It’s going to be big.

The biggest three events will probably be SUP Race Cup, Lost Mills and Oleron, which are happening back-to-back in the first three weeks. It’s those three races that’ll attract the most international elite paddlers. In fact there’s going to be an entire convey of SUP athletes travelling around to each event. It’ll be like a travelling carnival, only with paddles…

Jamie Mitchell, Connor Baxter, Travis Grant, Eric Terrien, Chase Kosterlitz, Jim Terrell, Paul & Angie Jackson, Jake Jensen, Rami & Krisztina Zur, Beau O’Brian, Bart de Zwart, Casper Steinfath… the list goes on.

There’s going to be a lot of elite talent at these races, which is really exciting for the sport in this part of the world. No longer is it just about Hawaii and California. Suddenly Europe is going to be hosting some of 2013’s biggest races, which will feature many of this year’s best paddlers.

So if you’re a fan of Stand Up Paddle racing then keep your eye on SUPracer.com over the next six weeks to follow all the action.

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The BIG Races In Europe This Summer…

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WEEK #1
SUP Race Cup
May 25th & 26th
St. Maxime, France
$15,000 prize money
Official Site | Facebook

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WEEK #2
Lost Mills
May 30th – June 1st
Brombachsee, Germany
$22,000 prize money
Official Site | Facebook

Week 2 alternative…
Waxx Summer SUP Challenge
May 31st & June 1st
Bandol, France
prize money TBA
Facebook

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WEEK #3
Oleron Island SUP Challenge
(aka Stand Up World Series France)
8th & 9th June
Oleron Island, France
$10,000 prize money
Official Site | Facebook

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WEEK #4

There are no major races this week, though there are several regional events. Check out the Rogue SUP Race Calendar for all the dates.

The highlight could be the III DEEP SUP Race in Villa de Noja, Spain. This event carries $2,500 prize money and has the added bonus of being very close to week 5’s venue, Bilbao. Another cool event will be the Bray Lake Duathlon in the UK, which combines 5kms of SUP with 5kms of running.

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WEEK #5
Bilbao World Paddle Challenge
(aka Stand Up World Series Spain)
21st – 23rd June
Bilbao, Spain
$20,000 prize money
Facebook

Week 5 alternative
Happy Summer SUP Race
22nd June
Namur, Belgium
$9,000 prize money
Official Site | Facebook

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WEEK 6
Massilia SUP Race
29th June
Marseille, France
$6,000 prize money
Facebook

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So there you go… Six weeks, eight races, many of the world’s best paddlers and $80,000 in prize money.

Did we mention it’s going to be big?

We’re in for a fun Summer of SUP Racing in Europe, so stay with us for all the action (…and keep your eye out for some rather large news about the “European SUP Racing Tour” early next week).