RACING I UPCOMING REGIONAL REGATTAS
26th Key West Race Week, Quantum Key West 2013, Jan. 20-25 This is the largest regatta in the Western Hemisphere with one-design, IRC and PHRF fleets racing for five days in the waters around Key West. Winter winds are usually excellent and boats come from all over the Southeast, the U.S., Canada and Europe. Classes include Farr 30s, Farr 40s, J/95s, J/80s, J/105s, K-650, Laser SB3, Audi Melges 20, Melges 24, Melges 32, Open 570, Open 650, Ultimate 20 and Viper 640. New designs that started in 2012 include an R/P IRC 52, a J/V IRC 52, the Farr 400, a McConaghy 38 and a Carkeek HPR 40. While the Grand Prix boats may draw the headlines, the heart and soul of race week is the one-design and handicap classes that are present year after year. Another mainstay is the huge PHRF fleet that competes annually. Last year J/Boat specific classes were introduced. A special handicap consortium headed by J/Boat founder Rod Johnstone and PHRF consultant Bruce Bingman has created two classes for owners who want to race against boats of similar design and performance. Kelly’s Caribbean Bar, Grill & Brewery serves as the main regatta anchor. Thousands of crew and spectators spend the week in Key West and the town becomes one
SAILING REGATTA 60th ANNUAL
MOUNT DORA, FLORIDA, APRIL 6-7, 2013 Come sail with Us on our 60th and help us Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of our Club. There will be special trophies and awards. The Regatta is open to all classes from Opti to Sunfish, Hobie to Wayfarer, Catalinas to Mutineers We hope to have up to 7 races, weather permitting. Four boats will be required for a design class Inland sailing at its best, with outstanding food on Saturday night with music on the dock.
For more information and registration form, go to www.mountdorayachtclub.com Or for the personal touch, call us at 352-383-3188. We will gladly help you out. News & Views for Southern Sailors
huge race event with after-race partying occurring throughout the island. The official regatta marina is the Historic Seaport Marina. Quantum Sail Design Group is the official sponsor, along with 27 industry partners who also support the event. For more information, go to www.premiere-racing.com.
4th Annual Tampa Bay Good Old Boat Regatta, St. Petersburg, FL, Jan. 26 This regatta is sponsored and founded by the St. Petersburg Sailing Association with the help of Good Old Boat magazine. It is the fourth annual regatta for St. Pete, although Good Old Boat magazine has been co-sponsoring “Good Old Boat Regattas” for many years in other locations, like Annapolis, MD. The first St. Pete regatta was in 2010 and the SPSA called for boats 20 years old and older. About 50 showed up to everyone’s surprise. What’s a “Good Old Boat”? Karen Larson, one of the publishers of Good Old Boat magazine, wrote in her review on the 2010 regatta in the February 2010 issue of SOUTHWINDS: “To the sailors in Annapolis, it’s a boat designed before 1975, and in Tampa Bay, it was a boat built before 1990. To the founders of the Tampa Bay Good Old Boat Regatta, it’s not the exact date the hull hit water, but the celebration of good old boats and the sailors who appreciate them. And to the founders of Good Old Boat magazine, which can’t help but sponsor races of the same name, it’s any well-loved sailboat at least 10 years old or older. Just as in the race, anything goes when it comes to good old boats. Their sailors just want to have fun.” For more information and details, go to www.spsa.us.
45th Regata del Sol al Sol Set For April 26 Racers are already signing up for the 2013 Race from St. Petersburg, FL, to Isla Mujeres, Mexico The St. Petersburg Yacht Club’s Regata del Sol al Sol—the race, from St. Petersburg, FL, to Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico— will be setting out for Mexico on April 26. There is a 50-boat limit. Entrants are already signing up for the race. The special early entry fee ($900) deadline of January 31 is fast approaching. After that date, the entry goes up to $1000. There is still a lot of time for boats to get prepared and turn their entry in by April ’07, which is the final entry deadline. (See the section called Fees in Notice of Race. Organizers are hoping to break the record of 43 entries this year. Elizabeth (Beth) Pennington, the chairperson, can be contacted through the website at www.regatadelsolalsol.org (click on Chairperson@regatadelsolalsol.org on the home page, or in the Notice of Race). The “Island Activities” committee has lined up some very interesting extracurricular activities, which will include the ever popular Golf Cart Poker Run, miscellaneous parties, and the USA vs. Mexico basketball game. Check the website often for updates. Anyone interested in joining in the fun on the island, but not necessarily wanting to sail, can fly to Cancun. Then, it is a short taxi ride and ferry ride to Isla Mujeres. In order SOUTHWINDS
December 2012
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