The EuroTour Announces Final Schedule for 2017: 12 Weeks, 12 Races and a $100k Summer Holiday in Europe
Michael Booth on his way to victory in St. Maxime last summer; Boothy and many more of the world’s best will return to Europe in June (photo: Kerry Powell)
The EuroTour has announced its final lineup for the 2017 European Summer of SUP, with one new addition to the popular circuit that now stretches 12 weeks and gives all paddlers a unified tour while offering the pros almost $100,000 in prize money.
After announcing its initial lineup last month, the 2017 EuroTour has added the Mercedes-Benz SUP World Cup to the schedule, which slots in at week #9, while the opening event in the Greek Islands has been brought forward a week and beefed up with prize money.
The EuroTour, now in its third official season but having roots that stretch back six or seven years, was created to try and unify the vibrant but fragmented paddling scene in Euro land. The events feature some of the biggest names in the sport – Sonni Honscheid and Connor Baxter are the defending Tour champions – but are just as much about the weekend warriors and juniors, with each stop featuring a mass-start race alongside kids competitions and inflatable fun events.
The EuroTour is more than just a race series — it’s a summer holiday in Europe.
All of the EuroTour races are on 14′ boards, making it easy for paddlers to choose their equipment, while athletes are also given access to the famous ‘EuroTour Trailer’ that transports their equipment right across the Continent free of charge and makes life a lot easier for everyone.
While there are several great events in Europe this summer that are outside of the series (I’m particularly excited about the Vuelta), the EuroTour includes most of the main stops and has done a great job of bringing a consistent race series to the world’s most dynamic paddling region.
Two-time defending EuroTour champion Connor Baxter, followed by current world number two Michael Booth, en route to a win at Bilbao last June (photo: Kerry Powell)
The total combined prize purse for the summer of 2017 now stands at an impressive €88,500, which translates to $95k USD or $125k AUD. I’ve already spoken with last year’s top three – Connor, Boothy and Titou – and all of them plan to be back in Europe this season. All three of them also plan on winning the series, so when you throw in a dozen more internationals and all the rising stars of Europe, we should be in for a cracking summer of SUP.
The 2015 and 2016 women’s champ, Sonni Honscheid, will also return, and this year she’ll be on a new board after having recently joined the Starboard Dream Team; Sonni’s stiffest competition may come in the form of new team mates Olivia Piana and Fiona Wylde.
While the 2017 EuroTour stretches for almost three full months, it seems like June will be the hotspot, with the largest races, biggest prize purses and most famous names hitting the events in France, Spain and Germany. The surprise packet is probably the Thonon race on Lake Geneva, a first year event that has thrown down twenty grand and which is likely to attract a fairly huge field given its central location within Europe.
The new addition of the Mercedes-Benz SUP World Cup is another interesting one. That event is also part of the new-look APP Tour (formerly the Stand Up World Series), so we can expect one of the biggest elite lineups of the summer at that race.
Other big events to focus on include the long-running Iberdrola Bilbao Paddle Challenge in the Basque Country of Spain, probably the biggest stop of the Tour in terms of prestige. The Basque Country is one of the most incredible parts of the world you could ever be lucky enough to spend some time in (try the ‘pintxos’ but go easy on the ‘patxaran’), and the double header between Bilbao and San Sebastian will surely be one of the funnest parts of the EuroTour once again this year.
Though often it’s the smaller events that prove to be real highlights, with the races in Crete, Fuerteventura and Finland, for example, all set in amazing locations.
The full schedule is below, and you can check out our original 2017 EuroTour announcement for more info on each race.
Follow the EuroTour on Facebook for more, and of course stay tuned to SUP Racer this summer for complete coverage of the European Summer of SUP — I’ll be there for at least seven or these dozen stops.
Crete
Week 1: Crete SUP Race
April 29-30
Island of Crete, Greece
€10,000 prize money
WEEK 2: Namur SUP Race
May 13-14
Namur, Belgium
€3,500 prize money
WEEK 3: The SUP Race Cup
May 20-221
St. Maxime, France
€5,000 prize money
WEEK 4: Atlantic Paddle Games
May 27-28
Hossegor, France
€6,000 prize money
WEEK 5: Thonon-les-Bains SUP Race
June 3-4
Lake Geneva, France
€20,000 prize money
WEEK 6: Iberdrola Bilbao World SUP Challenge
June 10-11
Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
€12,000 prize money
WEEK 7: San Sebastian Paddle Tour
June 17-18
San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain
€6,000 prize money
WEEK 8: Narbonne SUP Race
June 24-25
Narbonne, France
€12,000 prize money
WEEK 9: Mercedes-Benz SUP World Cup
July 1-2
Scharbeutz, Germany
€3,500 prize money
WEEK 10: Onexe Fuerteventura Downwind Race
July 8-9
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain
€3,500 prize money
WEEK 11: Sieravuori SUP Masters
July 15-16
Sieravuori, Finland
€3,500 prize money
WEEK 12: SUP Armada
July 22-23
Bewl Water, UK
€3,500 prize money
Defending EuroTour champ Sonni Honscheid will return to Europe this summer looking to make it three titles in a row. However this year she’ll be on a new board, having recently signed with the Starboard Dream Team.
