because in canoe you can only paddle on one side without ever changing sides,” Cain says. “It was an immediate luxury to actually be able to change sides on SUP. Going from a staggered stance in canoe to a parallel foot stance on SUP was a natu-ral transition, which is why so many canoeists have made the transition.” Cain’s first SUP compe-tition was the Cold Stroke Classic in Wrightsville Beach in January 2011. “I race more in Wrightsville Beach than anywhere else,” Cain says. Wrightsville Beach’s surf-to-sound access and active paddleboard com-munity attribute to the consistent quality of local SUP events, Cain says. “Last year I competed against Australians, Europeans and the top guys from Hawaii and California at the Surf to Sound Challenge and Carolina Cup,” Cain says. “But even if no out-of-state or out-of-country participants were to attend, there is an incredi-bly strong SUP community in Wrightsville that has been forcing me to train harder before I return.” For the elite, Cain’s the man the beat during the North Carolina Surf to Sound Challenge Friday, October 31 through Sunday, November 2 which launches at the Blockade Runner Beach Resort. Expect the Unexpected Flotilla’s Underdog Brent Jernigan won the Best Powerboat 22 Feet and Under award with his entry, “Santa Jaws,” at the 2013 North Carolina Holiday Flotilla. Every November, boats of all sizes parade in Banks Channel during the North Carolina Holiday Flotilla, each decked out from bow to stern in its By EMMY ERRANTE holiday finery to vie for the grand prize: Best In Show. Forty-foot yachts blast carols from fancy sound systems. Sailboats are transformed into floating Christmas trees with strings of tiny green lights draped from their masts. Navigating between their massive hulls, Brent Jernigan steers the Craig Cat. At 11 feet, Jernigan’s miniature pontoon boat is the length of a kayak. Picture two kayaks, side by side, with a small flat deck, and a motor attached to the back. On the deck, Jernigan steers. His one-man crew is his brother, Chris Jernigan, of Morganton, NC. “It’s our annual get together to have some fun,” Jernigan says. “And it is a lot of fun.” 14 WBM november 2014 For the past seven years, Jernigan has trailered the Craig Cat to the flotilla from his home at Lake Waccamaw. Each year, the tiny craft shows up as a different character. One year it was a propeller plane. “That was fun, my brother fashioned that propeller from a bicycle wheel,” Jernigan remembers. Another year it was a space shuttle. “That was a blast,” Jernigan says. “We were able to show off and spin around that year, and when we got in front of the judges we did a countdown, made a big circle and then we stopped and let up a three foot helium Santa Claus on a ribbon, like he was space walking.” Last year, the Craig Cat was a shark’s head, with mechanical jaws that opened and shut over a plastic, illuminated Santa Claus. Chuckling, Jernigan WBM FILE PHOTO
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