Bradenton Yacht Club Fall Kickoff Regatta, Bradenton, FL, Sept. 25-27 The 27th Annual Fall Kickoff Regatta, the “kickoff” event for the Tampa Bay/Sarasota Bay area winter racing season, will be held at the Bradenton Yacht Club on Sept. 25-27. The regatta comprises two days of racing in Tampa Bay, north of the Manatee River inlet. Five classes, spinnaker, non-spinnaker, true cruising, racer cruiser and multihull, will make up the three-race regatta. Free dockage is available at the yacht club. In previous years, upwards of 70 boats have participated in the regatta, most of which raft up at the Bradenton Yacht Club bulkhead on the Manatee River. Deeper draft boats can usually find dockage available at Snead Island Boat Works down the street from the club (and within walking distance). Partying for the event begins on Friday night as boats begin to gather at the club, and continues after the racing on Saturday afternoon and then again on Sunday. For more information, and to register online, go to www.bradenton-yacht-club.org, or call (941) 981-3891. For dock reservations, call (941) 722-5936, ext. 212 or the dockmaster cell at (941) 374-2310.
25th Annual Dunedin Cup and Kiwanis Regatta, Dunedin, FL, Sept. 18-20 Spinnaker, non-spinnaker, cruising, prams, Sunfish, beach cats, offshore cats, Ensigns, Sailability and kayaks all converge for a great water weekend on the Gulf Of Mexico hosted by the Dunedin Boat Club and Kiwanis of Dunedin, FL. The event is to support the youth sailing program. Events include the Dunedin Regatta Ball at the Dunedin Country Club. Other events are: Seafood Fest, Kid’s Toucha-Boat and Art Tent, wooden boat show, kayak demos and awards party. For information, contact Rod Collman at rcollman@collman-karsky.com or call (727) 734-3749. Go to www.dunedinboatclub.org.
Distance Classic to Fort Myers, St. Petersburg Yacht Club, Sept. 30-Oct. 3 The Distance Classic will be from Tampa Bay to Fort Myers. “Race headquarters” in Fort Myers is at the St. Charles Yacht Club, http://www.stcharlesyc.com . Registration will be at SPYC at Pass-a-Grille between 8 and 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30, skippers meeting at 10 a.m. and the start at 12:00. Dockage is available at the St. Charles Y.C. It is advised to enter early and request to be added to the dock list. If you cannot make the skippers meeting and have access to a fax or e-mail for a copy of the current sailing instructions, you may pre-register and advise the race committee where you may receive sailing instructions between 10 and 10:30 a.m. on Sept 30. The race News & Views for Southern Sailors
SOUTHWINDS Annual Online West Florida
Race Calendar Posted by Sept. 1 For the past five years, SOUTHWINDS magazine has posted the race schedule/calendar on its Web site for all racing in the central west Florida area from just north of Tampa Bay south to Marco Island. The calendar includes all scheduled races of the West Florida PHRF organization (www.westfloridaphrf.org), plus club races in the area and any others that boaters in the area would like to post. The schedule is from Sept. 1 through Aug. 31 each year. Contact editor@southwindsmagazine.com to list your race, although all yacht clubs that are part of the West Florida PHRF will already be included, although regular local club races must be sent to us separately. We do not have space to list all the club race dates, but we will list any club race that is regularly scheduled (for example: every Thursday evening at 6 p.m.) plus the contact to enter the race. We do not list races that are not open to the general public and that are limited to club members only. (We list club races that require a club membership or US Sailing membership.) We will list any other races, even if not sanctioned by a PHRF organization. Contact the editor with those races. We ask that you not just send us a link (we will not accept them), but send the following information: The regatta/race name, type of racing (PHRF, one-design and type boat, or ?), race location, dates, sponsoring organization (club, sailing association, etc.), e-mail and/or phone contact and Web site (if applicable). The race calendar can be accessed through the racing pages link at www.southwindsmagazine.com. Limited banner advertising is available on the race calendar page at very low monthly rates. Contact editor@southwindsmagazine.com or call (941) 795-8704. start will be in lower Tampa Bay. Regular e-mails will come to you once you have entered. This is a WFPHRF BOTY event for Racer/Cruisers. Go to www.spyc.org, and click on regattas for all the details, or to contact race organizers and/or NOR/Entry forms, which will be posted on the site.
Racing, Texas Style: 23rd Annual Harvest Moon Regatta, Oct. 1-3 By Joyce and Darold Maxwell The Harvest Moon Regatta is the largest point-to-point sailing regatta in U.S. coastal waters. The regatta attracts more than 250 sailboats and 1,700 sailors each year to race 153 offshore nautical miles through the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston to Port Aransas, TX. Conceived as a gentlemen’s race by a few members of the Lakewood Yacht Club, the course reaches southwesterly down the Texas coast when the prevailing winds are southeasterly. Regatta participants moor at the City Marina or at Island Moorings in Port Aransas following the race. The Harvest Moon Regatta, a/k/a “Rum Regatta,” culminates in the Welcome Sailors Rum Party and awards dinner on Saturday night to see who won the coveted Bacardi Cup. As SOUTHWINDS
August 2009
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