30
WBM october 2011
W illiam Pope, Brad H oward, James
Bain and M ark Schmidt founded the
W rightsville Beach Paddle C lub. It
hosted the first C arolina C up, a WPA
(W orld Paddle A ssociation) sanctioned
event in A pril 2011.
W ith more than 170 paddlers
including some of the best and most
influential in the world (Southern
C alifornia’s Jim T errell; Joe Bark of
Palos V erdes; C andice A ppleby of San
C lemente; A nthony V ela of R edondo
Beach; C hase K osterlitz of T ampa;
L arry C ain of C anada; K aren W renn
of Portland, O regon; and H eather
T he recreational division of the 2010
Intracoastal SU P Cup leaves the start
line in Banks Channel.
Baus of Puerto R ico), the C arolina
C up became the largest event ever
held outside of C alifornia and H awaii
in its first run.
“T he course that we set,” Beausang
explains, “was unlike any other course
in the country because it involves all
of those different disciplines — the
ocean and the flatwater, surf and the
inlets, currents, boat traffic and tides.”
W ith W rightsville Beach now
viewed among professionals as a SUP
destination, N ewkirk says the paddle
club has big plans for W rightsville.
“T he dedication of this crew,”
N ewkirk explains, “and the strength of
this crew has put W rightsville Beach
on the map, in my opinion, as the epicenter
of paddleboarding on the E ast
C oast.”