Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta
Date: December 26-30, 2011
Time: All Day
Location: Coral Reef Yacht Club
The Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta is sponsored by the Orange Bowl Committee, Cresa partners, and US sailing. The Regatta is one of more than 20 Junior Olympic Festivals that take place throughout the Country.
The Regatta includes four days of competition, featuring Fleet racing on four courses for IOD’s, Laser, Laser Radial, Laser 4.7, and Club 420. Other Orange Bowl Regatta events included the Optimist Dinghy Class (Collegiate Sailors-Coral Reef Yacht Club), International Youth Regatta (Youth-Coral Reef Yacht Club), One Design Classes (Coconut Grove Sailing Club), and Shake-A-Leg (HandicapSailors-Shake-A-Leg Center)
For more information on the Orange Bowl Youth Regatta please visit:http://www.coralreefyachtclub.org
The youth sailors are coming…
While most kids enjoy the gifts left under the Christmas Tree or Chanuka Bush, youth sailors would prefer a trip to Miami, Florida for the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta. This year, the event, with registration on December 26 and sailing from the 27th to the 30th, will attract 533 sailors age 8 to 18 from 23 states and 22 countries. There will be sailors from seven South and Central American Countries and from six European nations. One sailor is even traveling from Israel… a distance of 6,607 miles.
This regatta, part of the Orange Bowl Festival, is almost 40 years old. Its fame has spread all over the world. The registration list includes 74 420s (a doublehanded boat) with 148 sailors, 139 Laser, Laser Radial and Laser 4.2 sailors and 246 Optimist Dinghy sailors (including the beginner Green Fleet Opti skippers). There will be a total of 459 boats. When you add the Race Committee boats (supplied by the Main Host, Coconut Grove’s Coral Reef Yacht Club, assisted by Lauderdale Yacht Club) and the many coach boats, Biscayne Bay will be almost completely covered with boats. More than 130 adults volunteer to assist with the regatta. Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and the US Sailing Center also assist by providing dry storage for the boats and hospitality for the sailors. The regatta is preceded by a clinic December 19-22 for Optis and 420s. One of the special evening events is College Night with 35 college sailing coaches. Local sailors expect to show their "knowledge" of Biscayne Bay. Several have their fingers crossed that the dolphins that frolicked on the 420 course last year show up again. They gave the term "Miami Dolphins" a new meaning!
The Orange Bowl is not only fun for the kids; it joins the Orange Bowl Festival as a huge economic engine for the Miami-Dade County. Why? For the Orange Bowl Regatta alone, there are only 150 or so locals coming from Miami-Dade County and Broward County. The rest are from out of town. They travel with their parents. About 20% of the sailors are accompanied by siblings. They stay over 4 nights and the ones participating in the Clinic, add 7 more nights. These sailing families eat in our local restaurants, go to the movies, and shop for souvenirs and to get clothes which are more appropriate for our tropical environment. Half of the families rent a car. The sailors are also accompanied by sailing coaches… one for every five or six sailors. Those coaches need to eat and sleep also. This revenue is great for Miami… and Miami is wonderful for all of these young visitors. If they are very lucky, they will get to stay for the Discover Orange Bowl football game on January 4. Then they will return to their homes with fond memories of our sunny skies, sailing on Biscayne Bay and the famous Orange Bowl Festival.