The chance to be crowned the inaugural King and Queen of Mauao is attracting some of the world's top stand-up paddle boarders, who are currently in New Zealand getting ready for this weekend's event.

The world's top exponents of the sport are training at the Starboard Performance Academy, Piha, and will be competing at Mount Maunganui in a super circuit event on Saturday, and a 10k Open Ocean Paddle on Sunday.

2014 ISA Stand Up Paddle world championship Sean Poynter. Photo: Ben Thouard.

The event is part of the inaugural Mount Festival of Multisport, running from Friday evening through to Sunday.

The international line-up includes Hawaii's Connor Baxter, voted the number one Male Paddler of the Year, and Sean Poynter from San Diego, winner of the 2014 ISA Stand Up paddle World Championship in the SUP Surf Division.

They are joined in NZ by Zane Schweitzer, who hails from a famous windsurfing family. Zane's grandfather, Hoyle Schweitzer, is known as the inventor of the sport after filing the first windsurfing patent with Jim Drake in 1968.

Hoyle and Diana Schweitzer went on to found Windsurfing International,which manufactured and promoted the windsurfer brand.

Zane's father Matt Schweitzer was a five-time Overall Windsurfing Champion, his mother Shawneen Schweitzer was a national windsurfing champion, his brother Matty is a top ranked surfer and dirt bike racer, and his younger sister Shelby is a champion amateur surfer.

Zane is an accomplished paddler himself, ranked number three in the world overall in 2014. He was born and raised on the island of Maui Hawaii, and lists his occupation as a professional waterman.

The field for the King and Queen of Mauao Paddle event is rounded out by Hungarian brothers Daniel and Bruno Hasulyo, who once paddled the 2860 km Danube River, and are now based in Piha, Auckland.

New Zealand will be well represented in the weekend's event, with the field including windsurfing Olympian JP Tobin on a stand up paddle board.

The rest of the festival features well-established multi-sport events such as The Port of Tauranga Half and the Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon, as well as a host of new events which people of all ages can compete in, or simply enjoy.

Some emerging sports are also on the festival itinerary such as the Virus NZ Tag Team Champs, which has teams of two-to-four people each completing a short distance swim, bike and run.

There are opportunities for people of all fitness levels to participate in the festival in events such as at the Jetts Dash for Cash on Friday evening, the TRI NZ Short course event and the Mauao Fun Run on Saturday.

Event Director Dave Mee says the aim is to create a festival of events and activities with something to suit everyone at one of New Zealand's most popular holiday destinations.

'The Mount is the perfect place,” he says, 'and we believe the Mount Festival can develop in the future to rival similar events such as the Noosa Tri Festival and attract thousands of visitors from around New Zealand and the world.”