The APT World Tour Tow-In Surfing Circuit has officially announced its first Open World Qualifying Tow-In Event to be held at Pier 1, on the North Shore of Maui, Hawaii.

Due to the overwhelming amount of competitors interest in the APT World Tour Tow-In Surfing Circuit, the APT has made the commitment to move forward in developing its first (WQE) Open World Qualifying Event. The holding period for this event will be January 15th, 2007 through to March 31, 2007 and will be held over a two day period.

This event is being developed for experienced tow-in teams that wish to compete for the eight available slots for the Mexico and Chile tow-in events which carry a total of $50K minimum combined purse and are sanctioned by the APT World Tour Tow-In Surfing Circuit.

The WQ event will be open to tow-in teams from around the globe and will be limited to the first 64 registered teams on a first come basis.

All competitors that are currently on the main invite list of the North Shore Tow-In Surfing Championship have the option to compete in the WQ event or not. If they choose not to, they limit their chance of a seeded position in the remaining tour and will have to battle twice as hard in the North Shore event for a slot in the Mexico and Chile tow-in events.

All alternates on the North Shore invite list and other interested tow teams must register with an official WQ entry form and APT Membership form to compete in the Gottaplay.com WQ Maui Tow-In Surfing Event.

If competitors already know that they are a regional wild card pick for Mexico or Chile, they also have the choice to compete in the WQ for a slot position for the region they are not a wild card selection. If they choose not to compete, their chances of a seeded position are cut in half and again they will have to battle twice as hard in the North Shore event.

The 1st – 8th place winners of The Bank of Hawaii North Shore Tow-In Surfing Championship will have an automatic seeded position in the 2007 Mexico and Chile events listed below. It is not certain if the North Shore or Maui event will happen first. That depends on Mother Nature.

This APT Open WQ Tow-In event on Maui, will dictate by a point system the tow-in teams that will be selected to compete in the following two remaining APT sanctioned events listed below. Top rated teams from the entire tour will then move on to the World Title event scheduled for late 2007, early 2008.

Mexico – Puerto Escondido

‘Red Bull El Gigante Viene Tow-In Surfing Championship’

$25,000.00 Purse Minimum

South America – Chile, Iquique – El Bajo Cacho Toro

‘Iquique Chile International Tow-In Surfing Championship’

$25,000.00 Purse Minimum

All competitors must first become an APT member to compete in any APT sanctioned event. Please see membership link for information. If you are already a member then all that’s left is the entry form, entry fee and liability form.

All competitors must also have a Hawaii State Tow-In License to compete in an APT sanctioned event being held in Hawaii.

Please e-mail {encode=”[email protected]” title=”[email protected]”} for Hawaii tow-in state license information and upcoming class dates.

To register for the Gottaplay.com Open WQ Maui Tow-In Surfing Event 2007 go to www.Protowsurfers.org and download the official entry form under Sanctioned WQE and World Tour Events menu link.