The official 2013 Stand Up World Series schedule has just been released and there’s plenty of exotic destinations included. While we spotted the draft schedule last month, this looks like the finalised line-up of races for the new year.

The 2013 SUP World Series will consist of nine events across five regions: 2x in the States, 2x in Hawaii, 2x in South America, 2x in Europe and 1x in Asia. It begins in Chile in March and wraps up on the North Shore of Oahu in October, though it’s the season opener that could well be the highlight.

The 2013 Stand Up World Series begins in the icey waters of Patagonia in Chile, with the Magallanes Paddle Challenge set to take place alongside some fairly dramatic scenery. The location for this event is certain to be a hit (just see the pic below) though given how many ups and downs the SUP World Series had in its inaugural year, it’s a little surprising to see this particular race as the season opener for 2013. Don’t get me wrong: I think that SUP racing events in general need to become more adventurous and exciting, for the good of the sport, and nobody is trying harder in that regard than the Waterman League (organisers of the Stand Up World Series). However there’s also a huge risk in holding a stand up paddle race in the middle of nowhere; logistical issues put pressure on the entire operation and turnout will be pretty small. If the first event of the 2013 Series falls over, the whole season could suffer.

But so long as the Waterman League can ship in the top young paddlers and get some good photos and video, the event will be deemed a success. They’re obviously not trying to break records for number of participants on this one; they’re simply going in to get some dramatic racing footage that can be packaged for the TV networks. And if it can be pulled off successfully, it’ll be just that: dramatic and spectacular. Just look at the pic above: they’re gonna be racing around giant icebergs! C’mon!

Oh and there’s $20,000 on offer in Patagonia too. That should help a few more paddlers find a way down there.

The other interesting event on the 2013 Stand Up World Series schedule is China. Details are pretty thin at the moment, but no matter where in the country it’s held this will no doubt be the first major SUP race in Chinese waters. Again, there’s a lot of risk in holding big events in out-of-the-way locations (we don’t want a repeat of the Philippines event), but either way you’ve gotta give the Stand Up World Series huge credit for pushing the boundaries and taking the sport to new regions. They’re taking big risks, but hopefully they pull it off and hopefully it’ll lift the sport of Stand Up Paddle racing to new heights.

Back to the schedule: Of the nine events in the 2013 SUP World Series, four of them have been seen before. Oleron, Chicago and the Finals @ Turtle Bay were all successfully run in 2012, while the Maui Paddle Challenge is an existing event (the Naish Maui Paddle Championships). Maui is also the only leg where the World Series piggybacks on an existing race – the other eight stops are entirely stand-alone events.

Five races will be seen for the first time in 2013. In addition to Chile and China there’s also World Series events in Brazil, Germany and California.

Take a look at the full schedule below and keep following SUPracer.com for the latest Stand Up World Series info, news and results.

2013 Stand Up World Series Schedule

Event #1: Magallanes Paddle Challenge, Patagonia, Chile: 14th – 17th March
Event #2: Ubatuba Grand Slam, Brazil: 13th – 14th April
Event #3: Oleron Paddle Challenge, France: 8th – 9th June
Event #4: Hamburg Paddle Challenge, Germany: 16th – 17th June (date tbc)
Event #5: Maui Paddle Challenge, Hawaii: 21st – 22nd July
Event #6: Chicago Paddle Challenge, USA: 24th – 25th August
Event #7: China Paddle Challenge, China: 6th – 8th September (details tbc)
Event #8: SoCal Grand Slam, Califonia: 21st – 23rd September
Event #9: Stand Up World Series Finals @ Turtle Bay, Hawaii: 11th – 13th October