Salt Life, one of today’s leading lifestyle apparel brands, in conjunction with South End Surf Shop, proudly announces the Salt Life Carolina Pro-Am to be held on April 20-21, 2019, at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. The fifth annual Stand Up Paddle (SUP) Surf contest brings together the world’s best professional and top amateur SUP surfers in North Carolina and will serve as an APP World Tour Qualifying event promoted by the World Paddle Association (WPA).
The Salt Life Carolina Pro-Am is a two-day event offering a $15,000 prize purse. In addition, the Pro Division competitors will earn Qualifier Series points toward the APP World Tour Ranking, providing a unique and open access point to the tour for the following season.
Tristan Boxford, CEO of the APP World Tour, stated, “We are extremely excited to be involved with the Salt Life Carolina Pro-Am and what it represents for the Stand Up Paddle Community as a whole. The introduction of this great event as an official Qualifier stop for the APP World Tour in 2020 paves the way for the development of a legitimate Qualifier Series for SUP Surfing that will emulate what has been put in motion by the APP and WPA for Racing in 2019.”
The Carolina Pro-Am (CPA) was brought to life in 2014 by local businessmen and avid surfers, Haywood Newkirk and Jason Colclough, with a vision of bringing the best SUP surfers from around the world to North Carolina to experience its surf and take in its legendary local hospitality. The event also presents the Haywood Newkirk Sr. Award which is awarded to the competitor with the best combined results in both the Pro Open and Pro Longboard divisions. Past recipients include Jarrod Covington (2014 – North Carolina), Kieran Grant (2015 – Florida), Bullet Obra (2016 - Hawaii) and Martin Letourneur (2017 – France).
"We are really excited about the 2019 Salt Life Carolina Pro-Am. The event has been so successful in past years, but having this contest be a part of the APP Tour brings it to an entirely new level,” stated Haywood Newkirk, CPA founder. Newkirk continued, “Having the support of the APP, WPA and Salt Life is quite an endorsement as well. I can't wait for the world to come to our home breaks here at Wrightsville Beach."
Since 2014, the Carolina Pro-Am has attracted some of world’s top competitors, including Colin
McPhillips (3-time World Longboard Champion), Caio Vaz (2016 APP World Champion), Izzy Gomez (2-time APP World Champion), Emmy Merrill (2-time ISA World Champion), Mo Freitas and Giorgio Gomez. Most importantly, the Carolina Pro-Am supports the amateur divisions to aid in the sport’s growth and keep the competitors coming back to Wrightsville Beach. The support of the local community has allowed the Carolina Pro-Am to become one of the top SUP surfing contests in the country. With the additional support and recognition provided by the APP and the WPA, the Carolina Pro-Am is poised to become one of paddle boarding’s premier events.
“The Carolina Pro-Am contest has always been a fun and competitive event with great hospitality from the locals in Wrightsville Beach,” stated Byron Kurt, President of the WPA. Kurt continued, “The level of SUP Surfing has always been very good and now with the event being an APP World Tour qualifying event, you will see a much more competitive field in all divisions. The Salt Life Carolina Pro-Am will be covered by local and international media from APP, WPA, TotalSup, Standup Journal, and Supconnect, and will be highlighted on CBS Sports Network APP World Tour event telecasts. For more information and sponsor opportunities, go to www.worldpaddleassociation.com and www.appworldtour.com register on www.paddleguru.com.
About Salt Life:
Salt Life is an authentic and aspirational lifestyle brand that embraces those who love the ocean and everything associated with living the “Salt Life.” Founded in 2003 by four avid watermen from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, the Salt Life brand has widespread appeal with ocean enthusiasts worldwide. From fishing, diving and surfing, to beach fun and sun-soaked relaxation, the Salt Life brand says, “I live the Salt Life.” Numerous professional athletes, sportsmen and other ambassadors in the fishing, surfing, diving, rock, pop and country music worlds have an alliance with the brand through cross-marketing partnerships. Learn more about Team Salt Life here. Salt Life is the preferred lifestyle brand of outdoor and fishing legends like Peter Miller, Captain Jimmy Nelson, Luiza Barros, Captain Don Dingman, Erin Osborne and more. The brand is also visible in areas across the media, sports and popular culture landscapes, including music videos, national tour sponsorships, fishing and outdoors-related television shows, professional auto-racing events and Salt Life’s popular YouTube channel.
From its first merchandise offerings in 2006, Salt Life has grown with distribution in surf shops, specialty stores, department stores and sporting goods retailers. Salt Life products are also available to consumers at www.saltlife.com and at Salt Life’s various branded retail stores including locations in Huntington Beach and San Clemente, California, Columbus, Georgia, and Daytona Beach and Tampa, Florida. The brand’s flagship store is located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, where the term “Salt Life” was coined over 15 years ago. The Salt Life brand is committed to supporting conservation efforts by contributing to various organizations through Salt Life Gives Back. Learn more here.
Salt Life, LLC is an operating subsidiary of Delta Apparel, Inc. (NYSE American: DLA). Salt Life's corporate office is located in Columbus, Georgia and its distribution center is located to Fayetteville, North Carolina.
About Delta Apparel, Inc.:
Delta Apparel, Inc., along with its operating subsidiaries, Salt Life, LLC, M. J. Soffe, LLC, and DTG2Go, LLC, is an international design, marketing, manufacturing, and sourcing company that features a diverse portfolio of core activewear and lifestyle apparel and related accessory products. The Company specializes in selling casual and athletic products through a variety of distribution channels and distribution tiers, including department stores, mid and mass channels, e-retailers, sporting goods and outdoor retailers, independent and specialty stores, and the U.S. military. The Company’s products are also made available direct-to-consumer at its branded retail stores and on its websites atwww.saltlife.com, www.coastapparel.com, www.soffe.com and www.deltaapparel.com. The Company’s operations are located throughout the United States, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico, and it employs approximately 7,800 people worldwide. Additional information about the Company is available at www.deltaapparelinc.com.
About WPA:
Since 2009, the mission of the WPA is to provide a comprehensive voice, fair and equal access and organizational structure to stand up paddling (SUP) and paddle sports and its participants in a manner that benefits the collective paddling community.
About APP World Tour:
Since 2010, the APP World Tour has been the Official Professional World Championship Tour for the Sport of Paddlesurfing (also known as SUP / Stand Up Paddling / Paddleboarding), officially sanctioned by the IOC recognized Federation for Surfing Sports, the ISA (International Surfing Association). Re-branded in 2017 as the APP World Tour (previously known as the Stand Up World Tour and Stand Up World Series), the APP’s focus is to showcase the World’s best athletes in major and iconic markets across the globe, while providing unique mass participation opportunities and delivering Urban Beach Lifestyle Festivals that celebrate the sport and its environment through its @citypaddlefestival approach.