Ft. Lauderdale Distance Race Sees an Uptick
Entries accepted until January 8th

Posted Thursday, January 7, 2010

 
 E-mail this page
 Printer-friendly page

The Fort Lauderdale to Key West race is just a bit over a week away and is chock full of good competition. With 55 boats signed up, the race committee is seeing it’s biggest numbers in the past 15 years. The organizers are hopeful that this is a signal that distance racing is on the upswing, and the competitors say it’s word of mouth about great racing that attract new boats. And the old ones keep coming back, hoping for the trophy this time.

In the 1970s the likes of Ted Turner, Dennis Connor, and John Dane raced against hundreds of competitors flying by night down to Key West. Perhaps we’ll see those numbers again, as owners look for new ways to feed the flame of their competitive fires and preserve capital at the same time.

Scroll down the scratch sheet to see a number of accomplished boats among the hopefuls for this year’s overall and division trophies of this 160nm sprint, including Privateer, Bella Mente Vela Veloce, Rambler, and S. Florida local favorites like Pineapple Cup winner Thin Ice and PHRF Key West winner Primal Scream.

While the big boats will fly through the evening and perhaps getting their first tropical rum cocktail by early morning, the bulk of the class will be behind them working their way around the reefs in the dark early hours on their way to Key West. The SORC team will be posting live updates and real time race tracking at www.keywestrace.org throughout the race.

The SORC race organizers are accepting entries for the Lauderdale-Key West Race through January 8th, 2010 online at www.keywestrace.org. Up next for SORC is the Fort Lauderdale to Charleston race starting on March 31, 2010.