Southbound sailors+

The crew of Hot Tub benefits from a steady offshore breeze at the start of the 18-boat Clearwater to Key West race.

By DORAN CUSHING

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 5, 2000

Despite a late change in sponsorship and dates, the annual Clearwater to Key West race sailed from Clearwater Thursday morning with a smaller-than-usual fleet of monohulls and multihulls bound for the Conch Republic.

Eighteen boats raced down the coastline from Clearwater Pass after the 10 a.m. start with a brisk easterly wind in the mid-teens moving the boats quickly away from the coastline on a straight line course toward Key West.

In recent years this event has attracted more than 70 boats, but scheduling conflicts with the Havana Cup race to Cuba and late changes in the dates and sponsorship of the race left the host Clearwater Yacht Club struggling to keep it alive. The club took over the organization of the race in April when the previous race chairman, Charlie Brown, announced there would be no race this year.

With a course distance of 221 miles, the first finishers, likely one of the two multihulls competing, could reach Key West as early as this evening, but most of the fleet should finish by Saturday evening.

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