[notdevice] [/notdevice]

The Euro Tour officially begins this weekend in Spain, with the Port Adriano SUP Race set to kick off six weeks of racing festivities across the continent.

I’m excited about the Euro Tour. I’ve been racing in Europe the past three summers (and was living here the past five summers before that) and it’s always a super fun adventure. But this year we’re stepping it up a notch, with a unified series connecting the biggest standalone races in the region under a common board class (14′) and a common rankings system: The new Euro Tour Leaderboard.

If you’ve been living under a rock and aren’t familiar with the Euro Tour, you can read our Euro Tour announcement from earlier in the year, as well as yesterday’s updated Euro Tour preview for more insights. You can also follow The Euro Tour on Facebook for daily updates and behind the scenes info.

But assuming you’re up to speed, what I wanna share with you today are details of this Euro Tour Leaderboard and the rankings system that goes with it. The Leaderboard will kick into life this weekend and then run through til the end of the Tour on the last weekend of June. It’ll be updated immediately following each race, and whoever’s on top of the Leaderboard after Week #6 will be crowned the 2015 Euro Tour Champion.

I have a good understanding of how this Euro Tour Leaderboard and rankings system work because, well, I created it. I was recently asked to create an independent, unbiased rankings system for this year’s Euro Tour, one that rewards the paddlers that get good results, but also one that gives every paddler a chance to gain a fair and accurate ranking alongside the world’s best.

[notdevice] [/notdevice]

[notdevice] [/notdevice]

My job wasn’t too hard. We already have the SUP Racer World Rankings up and running, which formed a strong basis for the Euro Tour Leaderboard. If you follow our World Rankings, you’ll understand exactly how paddlers are going to be ranked on this year’s Euro Tour. There a couple of small tweaks, but it’s pretty much the same thing scaled down to a regional level.

In short: Every paddler that finishes top 50 in any Euro Tour race will earns points for their Leaderboard ranking. The higher you finish, the more points you get. And the more competitive the race, the more points that are on offer. Only a paddler’s three best results will count.

Or in slightly more detail…

– Euro Tour races will be weighted using the SUP Racer World Rankings “Race Index” formula

– Each race earns a Race Index score from 0-100%

– The winner receives the same amount of points as the event’s Race Index score

– Each subsequent finisher receives a diminishing percentage of the winner’s total points (based on the SUP Racer Base Points Table)

– So if a race scores 40% on the Race Index, the winner receives 40 points towards their Euro Tour Leaderboard ranking, runner-up gets 30 points, third place 24 points and so on.

– Unlike the SUP Racer World Rankings, which doesn’t include races that score less than 15%, all races on the Euro Tour are guaranteed a minimum score of 15% (and therefore a minimum of 15 points for the winner). This “guaranteed minimum” will come into effect for both the Euro Tour Leaderboard and the SUP Racer World Rankings in general.

– Only a paddler’s BEST THREE results will count on the Euro Tour Leaderboard

– Any paddler that competes in more than three races can discard their worst result(s)

– Any paddler that competes in less than three races will carry one or more donuts (zero point scores) in their total points

So basically you should do at least three races. This encourages paddlers to support and follow the Euro Tour for as long as they can, which in turn supports the sport and develops the paddling communities across Europe.

However we all know that very few paddlers are paid professionals. Most have day jobs and only a very small handful, if any, will do all six weeks. Even some of the pros are only flying in for a fortnight. So that’s why I came up with this “three best results” rule, rather than best four or best five.

And using the Race Index formula means you get rewarded for winning the tougher races, which I also think is the most fair way to do it. The simple theory behind the SUP Racer World Rankings, and now the Euro Tour Leaderboard, is that the harder a race is to win, the more points you should get for winning it. With this in mind, we can assume that the big Euro Tour double header, the Lost Mills and Bilbao, will be worth the most points as they’re expected to attract the strongest field of competitors.

I’ve got a pretty good idea who’s showing up at all the other races too, so I’ve also made some rough calculations about how much each race is worth. As you can see, if you’re chasing points you’ll probably be able to gain the most at Lost Mills, Bilbao, St. Maxime and Port Adriano. However keep in mind these races will be stacked with talent, so you’d be wise to compete in some of the regional events as well, such as St. Ives, Namur, Italy and Noja.

Or in other words: Just do as many stops of the Euro Tour as you can…

Week 1: Port Adriano SUP Race (Mallorca, Spain, May 23/24)
– Only the long distance race counts for points (and prize money)
– Estimated* Race Index score: 21.5% for men / 15% for women

Week 2: St’Ives Bay Celtic Cup (Cornwall, UK, May 30/31)
– UPDATE Only the long distance race counts for points (and prize money)
– Estimated* Race Index score: 15% for men / 15% for women

Week 2: SUP Race Cup (St. Maxime, France, May 30/31)
– UPDATE Points (and prize money) based on overall results (downwinder + beach race times combined)
– Estimated* Race Index score: ~30% for men / ~25% for women

Week 3: The Lost Mills (Bavaria, Germany, June 4/5/6)
– Only the long distance race counts for points (and prize money)
– Estimated* Race Index score: ~40% for men / ~35% for women

Week 4: Iberdrola Bilbao World SUP Challenge (Basque Country, Spain, June 13/14)
– Most likely only the long distance race will count for points, but it may be the overall weekend (to be confirmed)
– Estimated* Race Index score: ~40% for men / ~30% for women

Week 5: Deep SUP Race (Noja, Spain, June 20/21)
– Points based on overall weekend result (distance race + BOP race)
– Estimated* Race Index score: 15% for men / 15% for women

Week 5: Adriatic Crown (Marotta, Italy, June 20/21)
– Distance race only
– Estimated* Race Index score: 15% for men / 15% for women

Week 6: Happy Summer SUP Race (Namur, Belgium, June 27/28)
– Distance race only
– Estimated* Race Index score: 15% for men / 15% for women

(* Estimate only. Actual Race Index score (and points on offer) may go up or down depending on who shows up to race on the day.)

So there you go. That’s how the Euro Tour is going to work. Sounds complicated (because behind the scenes it really is), but on the surface it’ll be very simple and easy to understand.

And even though I’m the one in charge of creating it, I’m actually really excited to see the updated Euro Tour Leaderboard get released every Monday morning over the next month and a half. It’s going to make the European so much more interesting to follow.

You’ll be able to view/analyse the Euro Tour Leaderboard on a special sub-section of the SUP Racer World Rankings page, starting right after the opening round of the Tour this weekend in Spain. There will also be weekly updates on the Euro Tour Facebook Page.

The Euro Tour doesn’t include every big race in Europe, but it does tap most of them. So while it’s not quite as all-encompassing as the SUP Racer World Rankings, it should give us a pretty good indication of who’s firing in Euro land this summer.

But the Euro Tour isn’t just about the pros who are inevitably going to feature at the pointy end of the Leaderboard. The Euro Tour is also about the weekend warriors, the first timers, the kids, and anyone else who just wants to jump on a board and paddle for the joy and spirit of competition.

That’s what I love about the Euro Tour. It’s like a traveling festival of stand up paddling, which just happens to stop at some of the most awesome destinations on the planet.

The Euro Tour is a grassroots effort designed to help build the paddling communities across Europe. It’s also designed to be a lot of fun, so whether you can make it to Europe in person or not, follow SUP Racer for the latest updates from the Summer of SUP.

And keep en eye out for the first edition of the Euro Tour Leaderboard this coming Sunday…