The 2016 West Marine Carolina Cup has not just become the biggest standup paddleboard race in the world, it’s become an important event for businesses to introduce the sport to participants while marketing new products and services.
While more than 1,000 people either participated in one of the event’s three main races or the clinics, many more came to the Blockade Runner on Saturday, April 23 to experience the sports culture and browse through the booths of vendors from all over the country.
Several of them from California, the birthplace of the sport, said Wrightsville Beach was developing as a critical place to build interest and participation in SUP activities. Kristin Thomas, the executive director of the California-based SUP Industry Association, said that the Carolina Cup, and its Wrightsville Beach location, was an ideal event to grow the sport.
“There’s something for everybody here. There’s the ocean, there’s flatwater, there’s workshops,” she said. “It’s a great place to build the community.”
A California-based maker of a unique skateboard product said attending the Carolina Cup was crucial for growth on the East Coast. The product, the Hamboard, pairs skateboards of different sizes with a specialized staff that riders use to propel the board, much like a standup paddler uses in the water.
“The standup paddle community has embraced us the way that the skateboarding community didn’t,” said Don Sandusky, one of Hamboard’s owners.
The Huntington Beach company came to Wrightsville Beach with enough inventory to demonstrate the board and provide clinics. But they were likely to sell every one of them before leaving, Sandusky said. And participation at Carolina Cup also opened a new door into the skateboarding community, he said, following productive distribution meetings with Eastern Skateboard Supply owner Reggie Barnes.
“It was the best sales meeting in history,” Sandusky said. “It’s the most rewarding business trip of my life.”
Chris deRecat, president of Surfstow, a Southern California-based maker of SUP accessories, distributes through the cup’s title sponsor, West Marine. In addition to racks, bags and hydration packs, Surfstow sells a unique light that can attach to the bottom of a SUP board to illuminate the underwater sights for night paddling.
DeRecat said that Carolina Cup is now a key event for retailers to show their commitment to the SUP industry.
“Being here exposes us to the East Coast,” deRecat said. “It’s a hugely growing market.”
While some came to sell, others came to get a sample of the growing SUP community. Brian Meyer, of Maryland-based Capital SUP, brought 18 participants to the race. The Annapolis company offers lessons, rentals and training for SUP enthusiasts that paddle the waters near the Chesapeake Bay.
“We came to race,” Meyer said. “But also, we came to introduce new paddlers to the community.”
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