Mark your calendars for February 27th-28th for the Sarasota Invitational Regatta, the premier race launching the 2016 sprint season. More than 1,500 athletes in Youth, Masters and Adaptive Rowing from the southeastern United States will compete in this two-day event.
This venue boasts a naturally straight shoreline, anchored Starting Docks, and Albano-style buoys every 10 meters. It’s so well buoyed, your bowman will scarcely need to turn and look! (Although we advise you to, just in case.) As part of the venue upgrades, a state-of-the art wave attentuation system reduces chop and cross-wind on the course for 1500 meters. The course is very fair to rowers in all lanes, and ample spectating areas can be found all along the shore.
The regatta island was designed with rowing specifically in mind. Boat trailers, launching, and the team tent areas are strategetically placed to provide teams with the best access to their equipment and the racecourse. Teams can set up their spaces right along the shoreline leading up to the finish. No where else can you cheer for your team with your toes in the sand just feet away from the action.
The venue has the unique advantage of being in a sub-tropical setting, close to the interstate for ease of access, with a large number of hotels nearby. Prime shopping is just a minute’s drive. There are plenty of perfect post-race restaurants to celebrate your team’s accomplishments all close to the heart of Benderson Park. When racing is finished, you’ll be on your way home on 1-75 within five minutes.
Better yet, spend a little more time in the area. It’s easy to make a weekend in Sarasota. Watch the brilliant sunsets at Sarasota’s pearly white sand beaches. Siesta Beach was ranked #1 in 2011 by Dr. Beach. Spend time at any of our numerous museums, award-winning theater venues, or strolling over the iconic Ringling Bridge. Downtown Sarasota has one of the highest concentrations of Zagat-rated restaurants.
Sarasota International Airport is a mere six miles away, and both Tampa International and Southwest Florida Int’l (Ft. Myers) are each approximately 70 miles away. For those coming in from Orlando, the trip takes approxiamately 2 hours.
Beautiful beaches, wonderful museums, theatres, more dining choices than you could hope for, and more all await you for the days you aren’t rowing. However, the weather allows for year round rowing in a variety of locales in Sarasota and Manatee, and the area was named the “Best Place to Retire and Row in the US” in Jan 2010.
See you in February at the Sarasota Invitational!
For more information on the regatta, visit their website.
To volunteer for the Sarasota Invite, click here!
For hotel information, click here.
