The Fort Lauderdale mega-yacht show has been rescheduled because of Hurricane Wilma.
Since the event is run by the same organization that handles the St. Petersburg power-boat show, the local affair has been postponed.
But that does not affect the sailing event that starts Thursday in the Vinoy basin at the base of the municipal pier.
For 10 years, the sailing show has been drawing 9,000-10,000 attendees. Much has happened in the sport, and the event will showcase the new boats, new systems and, through the seminars, new methods.
Sailing for Miracles is a fund-raising effort for All Children's Hospital within the boat show. Donated are a Catalina 22 Sport, Island Packet Big Fish, Catalina Ex-cite, Tahatsu 9.9 outboard, boat parts and jewelry. For a chance to win, go online to sailamerica.com. Friday evening at St. Petersburg Yacht Club, 10 outstanding personalities of sailing will be feted. Plus, there will be the All Children's silent auction for the donations.
Alison Jolly, Ted Hood, Halsey Herreshoff, Ted Irwin, Steve Pettengill, Olaf Harken, Mark Ploch, Charley Morgan, Jen French and Frank Butler will make for interesting conversation. You will have the opportunity to crew for one of these notables. For a $100 contribution to All Children's, participants can choose their skipper during the regatta in Sonar sloops Saturday at 4 p.m.
A unique event that day will be the Mother Tubber Re-Gretta. It is not a race. It's an effort to entice as many vessels as possible to rendezvous in front of the boat-show docks at 1 and parade around the Vinoy basin, out to the municipal pier and back. Decorate the vessels for prizes. The registrants get a weekend pass to the show, and there's a drawing among participants for a special prize. To enter your boat, call (727) 804-2644. Parking for the show will include the Bayfront Center lot near the downtown airport. There's a shuttle to the event.
ROLEX OSPREY CUP: The St. Petersburg waterfront was the scene last weekend for Grade-1 match racing for women. Only one other event of this caliber is held in the U.S., so the competition drew elite sailors internationally, including top-ranked Claire Leroy from France.
Pat Seidenspinner and Tom Farquhar were able to complete a full round robin among the 10 women and their crew, plus finals and consolation rounds for 63 total races. The wind cooperated Thursday and Friday morning, but the afternoons were windless. Saturday was good for match racing, and Sunday's finals produced winds to 20 knots.
The winner was Giulia Conti and crew from Italy. They defeated Fort Lauderdale's Anna Tunnicliffe and Ali Sharp, Janet Thacker and Genoa Griffin. Third was Leroy, with Sweden's Malin Millbourn fourth.
HONORS: St. Petersburg's Gene Hinkel won the U.S. SAILING Gay S. Lynn Memorial Trophy for outstanding contribution to disabled sailors and their sport. Since before the 1996 Olympics, Hinkel has been working directly with individuals who need equipment to sail. Innovative enabling devices were manufactured, tweaked and re-designed until they became the standard.
John Ross-Dugan, a quadriplegic who has medaled in the Paralympics, started sailing the Sonar while strapped to a wheelchair that had its wheels removed. On one tack, he was on the low side and not able to see much of what was going on. Hinkel designed and built a sliding seat that turned around to face inward on the high side of each tack.
During a major regatta a decade ago, a 27-foot Olympic Soling was where it should not have been and hit by another boat. The result was a hole the size of a basketball. Hinkel had the vessel repaired and sailing the next morning. As a member of the technical committee of the International Federation for Disabled Sailing, Hinkel has traveled to numerous world championships - as well as the Paralympics in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens - to serve as measurer.
