The Tampa Bay Area and the West Coast of Florida including the Gulf Beaches is adding to its claim as the “Watersports capital of the U.S.’
The area has been a long-time center of major sailing events including the Morgan Invasion, as well as surfing, windsurfing, paddleboarding and Dragon Boat racing to mention a few. Two most recent feathers in this cap are the RS:X Youth 2014 World Windsurfing Championships (WWC) October 18-24 off Clearwater Beach — first held in the U.S., and the WPA Paddleboarding Championships October 24-26 off St Pete Beach with the Sirata as host.
“The St. Pete/Clearwater Sports Commission (SPCSC) helped secure both events,” Director Kevin Smith told Paradise News. “With the assistance of Rob Mirlenbrink, WPA Region 5 President, we reached out to the WPA National Office that we would like to be their East Coast partner and host the 2014 World Championships. With the help of our local Stand-up Paddleboard groups, the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber, the City of St. Pete Beach, and the Sirata Beach Resort the event was secured. With the commitment of WPA our area will host a regional Championship each year we do not host the World Championship occurring every four years.
“Looking ahead, the St. Pete/Clearwater area will be hosting the 2015 49er and 49er FX North American Sailing Championship February 6-9, and
the 2016 Olympic Class NACRA 17, 49er and 49er FX World Sailing Championships February 7-14. With our continuing focus on watersports, our location continues to be an elite area and a perfect match for these types of events.”
First Time for WWC in U.S.
The 2014 WWC almost was canceled as it was originally scheduled for Israel. After the Gaza Strip battles erupted, organizers were scrambling for an alternative site. Up stepped Jerome Samson of Clearwater, a Nielsen Research executive and volunteer President of U.S. Windsurfing. While vacationing in Portugal this July, WWC organizers asked for his help. Samson turned to Clearwater businessman and community activist Frank Chivas, owner of the Salt Rock Grill and Island Way Grill, on the board of the Clearwater Community Sailing Center on Sand Key, and named by the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber as the Frank T. Hurley Tourism Man of the Year this past May.
The rest is history. ”This thing happened real fast,” Chivas told the Tampa Bay Times. ”We had two-and-a half months to plan an event that typically takes years to pull together.” The City of Clearwater with its partners Tampa Bay Charities, Clearwater Community Sailing Center, St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission and the Clearwater Yacht Club, came together to host the spectacular event at Pier 60.
“I was proud to be a part of this international youth sporting event with nearly 100 18 and younger world-class windsurfers from 20 countries on four continents participating,” Chivas added for Paradise News. “Hosting it in Clearwater turned out to be a fabulous experience for the participants and spectators.”
“Windsurfing has been an Olympic sport for 30 years,” Samson said. “The worldwide youth pipeline has never been this strong. We were absolutely delighted to welcome the best young windsurfers in the world to the U.S. This is the birthplace of our sport, and our expectations were fulfilled with a spectacular event!”
First for WPA on East Coast
“We were proud to bring the World Paddle Association (WPA) Paddle Championships for their inaugural east coast run,” president Byron Kurt told Paradise News. “The St. Pete/Clearwater Sports Commission was particularly helpful in getting the event here, along with our sponsors Naked Turtle Rum, Salt Life Apparel, Cigar City Brewing and Hennessey’s Tavern Inc. The Sirata Beach Resort was a great headquarters host for all events. We had more than 250 participants over the four races and five clinics throughout the weekend. Ages ranged from 6 to 74, both males and females from all over the world, including most of the leading point participants.”
“The Sirata has welcomed many groups to the resort and hosted more than two dozen athletic events in the past,” Managing Director Gregg Nicklaus told Paradise News. This group stands out as being some of the most environmentally sensitive, physically fit and well-mannered participants that we have ever seen. The Sirata was proud to have been selected as host venue and look forward to seeing their event grow over the next few years.’
Clinics with the top athletes and sponsors were held October 23 and 24; Board Demos Thursday through Sunday (23-26); and the championship races on Saturday (25) and Sunday (26). Hundreds of enthusiastic spectators attended the clinics and demos, and enjoyed the races from Gulf Beaches up and down from the Sirata.
The WPA Stand Up Paddle (SUP) Elite Race of the championship did not require qualifying to enter. Salt Life will be giving a $5,000 bonus to the top Men’s (SUP 14′) and $3,000 to the top Female (SUP 12’6) points leaders. The Salt Life Cup (to be announced in April 2015) is an accumulation of points from all WPA Salt Life National Races in the long course and the WPA Paddle Championships. All WPA National races carry double points (2,000 to 1st) from regional WPA races and the WPA Championships is double of the National races (4,000 to 1st).
Sailing Center for All
Tampa Bay and the Gulf Beaches down the West Coast have long been a center of championship sailing competition, as well as a great recreational experience. Each year, the West Florida Yacht Racing Association (www.wfyra.com) organizes the Tampa Bay Area & Florida West Coast Yachting Calendar.
The 2014-15 calendar offers hundreds of events, compiled by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club in conjunction with BGYC-Bayshore Gardens Yacht Club, CYC-Clearwater Yacht Club, DIYC-Davis Island Yacht Club, SSS-Sarasota Sailing Squadron, BCYC-Boca Ciega Yacht Club, BKYC-Bird Key Yacht Club, CTYC-Cortez Yacht Club, RPM–Regatta Point Yacht Club, SYC-Sarasota Yacht Club, VYC-Venice Yacht Club, BYC-Bradenton Yacht Club, DBC-Dunedin Boat Club, SPSA–St. Petersburg Sailing Association, TSS-Tampa Sailing Squadron and VSS-Venice Sailing Squadron.
One of the most celebrated annual events has been the Morgan Invasion, started in 1985 to honor St. Pete Beach yacht designer Charley Morgan with racing by Morgan-designed boat owners. In 2013 race organizers teamed up with the Davis Island Yacht Club (DIYC) and made the Morgan invasion the centerpiece of the new Tampa Bay Hospice Cup (TBHC), promising fun competition and a chance to contribute to a worthy cause. “We’ll be ‘sailing for Hospice’ and supporting two very worthy organizations,” Charley noted at the announcement, “Suncoast Hospice (Pinellas County) and LifePath Hospice (Hillsborough County).”
The TBHC is open to both Morgan and non-Morgan sailboats. With a strong focus on sailing camaraderie, the event caters to cruising enthusiasts that just want to come out and be part of a fun regatta. In addition to the traditional Morgan Invasion fleets, the regatta also features open non-Morgan fleets for PHRF, Multi-hulls, and a cruiser-friendly “Just-for-Fun” casual fleet.
“We had an excellent debut event in May 2013,” past DIYC Commodore Kevin Fouche noted, “and an even bigger event this past April. We extended a special thanks to 12 Meter Charters in Newport, RI, for donating the sailing experience of a lifetime. They offered a Heritage Sailing Experience, auctioned at the April 12 benefit dinner. The lucky bidders won the opportunity to sail with Charley Morgan on the boat that he designed, built, and campaigned in the Americas Cup trials.
“We invite all racers and cruisers from the sailing community to support this great cause at our next TBHC regatta on April 25, 2015, also the 30th running of the Morgan Invasion.” (See Charlie Morgan Interview here.)
Dragon Boating on the Map
The Tampa Bay Dragon Boat Club was formed in 2005 and was the first established Dragon Boat club in the Tampa Bay area, according to current President Mike Leist. “The TBDBC or as we are more commonly known, the ‘Tampa Blade Runners’, quickly rose through the Dragon Boating ranks to become one of the more competitive teams in the Southeast U.S. Races we participated in this year include the Central Florida Dragon Boat Festival (1st place), Tampa Bay Dragon Boat Festival (Spring and Fall races – both 2nd place), and the Orlando Dragon Boat Festival (4th place) in late October.
Tampa held its first Dragon Boat races in 2004 and two years later hosted the national championships. It won its bid for the biennial world races in 2007, becoming just the second U.S. city to host the event. In April 2014, Tampa Bay hosted the 12th annual Tampa Bay International Dragon Boat Festival. In 2015 the 13th annual festival will take place in late April or early May.
In August 2011, 2,000 athletes from 17 countries competed for the sport’s top title in the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships with six days of races and other events in downtown Tampa. “Consider them Tampa’s version of the Olympics,” said Kevin Burns, co-founder of the Tampa Bay Dragon Boat Institute, the host committee. “The races cemented Tampa’s reputation as a premier spot for Dragon Boat racing, a sport that until recently was unknown to most locals.”
“I’m very pleased at the continuing interest in Dragon Boat racing in Tampa Bay,” Leist added. “We’re an active club and practice year-round, thanks to the great weather we have here. We are looking to grow the sport, and have paddlers at all levels of ability. We also boast the only youth team in the region, and our youth coach will be the U.S. National level youth coach in 2015.”
Story by Steve Traiman
[Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Kristin Artz, Kit Dunbar, Kevin Smith, Frank Chivas, Gregg Nicklaus, Charley Morgan and Mike Leist for their excellent comments and photo assistance.]
[Steve Traiman is President of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman in St. Pete Beach, offering freelance business writing services. He can be reached via email at straiman@mindspring.com.]