When you read something with a title as shocking as this, your mind jumps to anarchy and protests and people being beaten by alloy adjustable paddles in the street…

Not quite what’s really happening, but The Stand Up Paddle Athletes Association isn’t happy with how the current international standard events are being run. They say in an email to their members this week:

“There were over 500 stand up paddle races held around the world last year. Many of them were fun and entertaining events to attend. However, with the rapid growth of our sport, stand up paddle races can become chaotic. Insufficient space at race start lines, lack of proper safety, untimely payment of prize money, confusing starting sequences, delayed start times and unclear drafting rules are just a few of the many problems facing stand up paddle racing worldwide.

This is not our opinion, these are facts. The first step in solving a problem is recognizing there is one. Instead of complaining, some of the top paddlers in the world got together and decided to form SUPAA in order to create solutions to these problems.”

It’s all got to do with a group of big name stand up paddlers like Travis Grant, Eric Terrien, Chase Kosterlitz, Lina Augaitis, Terrene Black, Bart de Zwart and Belar Dia.z. These guys and girls made a rulebook, and it’s actually very good. This rulebook can be found on their website here, but for those of you who aren’t interested enough to read such things, it lays out rules for both stand up paddlers and event organisers. From the nitty gritty like drafting (you can’t draft the opposite sex or a longer board), right down to how prize money should be allocated and age group brackets. It’s pretty comprehensive stuff, and worth a read if you’re into stand up paddle racing.

According to the association, this set of rules will change the way stand up paddle racing is run as a sport, and will make it fairer for all. Will it work? Only time will tell, have a read through the rulebook and see for yourself….

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