Hennessey’s and the World Paddle Association proudly announce the 2012 World SUP/Paddle Championships to be held in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on November 3 & 4, 2012.

Cabo San Lucas or also known as Los Cabos will provide a perfect setting to bring together the best paddlers in the world to compete in tropical weather and warm water for two days of competition.  The world championship race will be conducted on 14’ boards for Men and 12’6 boards for Women.  More details with the race format will be announced as there will be the World Championship race, Open race, sprint races and team relay races.
Competitors can qualify for the 2012 World Championship by participating in 2012 World Paddle Association sanctioned events by earning a spot into your respective regional championship, 12 National races, Hennessey’s-WPA U.S. Championships, 11 City Tour and top placings from the 2011 World and U.S. championships.
Hennessey’s has conducted the International and World championships for nine years that included events in Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, San Francisco, San Diego and Hermosa Beach .  Since the Hennessey’s International events are truly a worldly competition it made sense for the event to be named the world championships and with Hennessey’s 18 year commitment to the sport of paddling. The World Paddle Association will sanction 200 plus events in 2012 along with events in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Europe.  The World Paddle Association has been committed to provide guidelines and rules to grow the sport for the future of stand up paddling.  Check your local WPA region for a schedule of sanctioned events.
Qualifying Criteria:
  • Finish in the top 30% of your board division at the 2011 Hennessey’s-WPA World Championships (Championship race only).
  • Finish in the top 30% of your board division at the 2011 Hennessey’s-WPA U.S. Paddle Championships (Long course only).
  • Qualify for a Regional Championship in 2012 by finishing in the top 50% of your board division and or ranking age divisions (see rule 15) in a WPA regional series in 2012.
  • Finish in the top 20% of your board division at a “WPA National Race” in 2011. (must be a ranked division and have a minimum of 5 participants)
  • Finished in the top 20% of the selected international events to be announced.
  • The WPA and Hennessey’s reserves the right to hold spots open to invite selected paddlers to participate in the 2012 Hennessey’s WPA World Championship race that may not have access or the ability to participate in any or limited points races and events listed.
  • All qualifying spots will be determined from a person’s highest qualifying option as listed  1 – 6.  If a person qualifies from option 1 and option 2 their spot in option 2 would be passed to the next person not qualified and so on.
  • Participants do not need to be current WPA member if you have qualified under options 1 & 2.
You can find all the qualifying criteria on www.worldpaddleassociation.com along with more details on travel packages, board transportation and more on www.hennesseyspaddleboarding.com