PRESS RELEASE – APP WORLD TOUR – Ericeira, Portugal, Tuesday 12th October:
After several months of working tirelessly with local partners, stakeholders and global sponsors to deliver a legitimate World Tour in 2021, we are disappointed to announce that it has been deemed necessary to postpone the APP World Tour’s return to competition until February 2022 to protect the legitimacy of the Tour and deliver the best possible product for both Athletes and Partners.
After navigating through a year of challenging circumstances to finally launch a condensed 2021 schedule, only for public events in Hawaii to be cancelled until further notice, the APP has been committed to finding a solution and delivering the much anticipated return to competition.
However, following a string of additional hurdles, from Government decisions to obstacles faced by local organizers and partners as well as the global travel restrictions, it has been deemed preferable to kick off a full season afresh in February of 2022 rather than try to force a shortened and challenging season in 2021.
With the world starting to open up, and travel restrictions easing over the coming months, the APP is excited to pour all its energy into what will be a spectacular return to competition with an impressive line up of events already in place for the 2022 season.
An official provisional schedule will be released later this month, together with more news on qualification and upgraded elements across the whole Tour. For more on this decision and the plan for 2022 competition, please go to www.appworldtour.com and follow us @appworldtour
What this means for 2021 and the events that were planned
Outlined below is what this decision means for the events that were planned for the next 4 months:
1) Carolina Cup: moving forward as planned from the 4th – 7th November
This event will go ahead as planned as an official APP Event, featuring both distance and sprint races as planned, together with the prize-money across both Distance and Sprints from the 4th – 7th November. However, given that there will be no official Tour for 2021, it will serve as a qualifier for 2022 and of course be covered by the APP Media Team
2) Gran Canaria: postponed to 2022
Unfortunately despite much of the last month spent trying to find a realistic solution, due to the challenges faced by local organizers as a direct result of Covid enforced restrictions, the travel complications and the ability to secure Partners for the event as a result, there will be no 2021 edition of the Gran Canaria Pro-Am for either Surfing or Racing. However, we will see this event back on the Calendar for 2022 so stay tuned for the return of this iconic event
3) Paris: Traditional Paris Crossing DIstance Race to take place on the 5th December
The traditional Paris Crossing Distance Race will still go ahead as planned and the APP and some of its Media Team will be present at the event. However, due to there being no pool for 2021 and the prohibitive costs involved in delivering an alternative venue for the sprints, there will be no sprint racing for this year and it will not be an Official World Tour Race for 2021 for the reasons cited above
4) Sunset Beach: postponed to January 2023 (as 2022 Final)
As it stands, public events on the North Shore of Oahu are prohibited until Covid restrictions are reviewed and amended, so it has been deemed too uncertain to move forward with this event given that we are unsure if we will even be able to make it happen due to government rules
5) World Championship Tour Finals: To take place as planned, but as World Tour Opener in February 2022
The February Event will go ahead as planned, but as the World Tour Opener rather than the Finals, with announcements to follow with the provisional schedule release later this month. Make sure to stay tuned for full details coming soon at appworldtour.com and @appworldtour
