This past weekend saw around 300 sailors descend upon Lowdermilk Park in downtown Naples, Florida, for the 2014 Naples Cup Regatta. Children ranging in age from 8 to 16 years old came from all over the state to rig their sails and wax their boats, ready to compete in the Gulf of Mexico for the 2014 Naples Cup. The Naples Community Sailing Center was the host of the event and many other clubs traveled to Southwest Florida to participate including; Edison Sailing Center, Sarasota Youth Sailing, Coral Reef Yacht Club, Lakewood Yacht Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club, Seaside Park Yacht Club, Clearwater Community Sailing Center, Coral Gables Sailing Center, St. Petersburg Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Center, Davis Island Sailing Center, Tampa Yacht and Country Club, and several other individual participants. The regatta attracted several different categories of sail boats including Optimist, Laser, 420, 4.7, Radial, and Full Rig.
The launch from the beach of Lowdermilk Park was a beautiful setting as the sun was shining early Saturday morning with a light offshore breeze however Sunday brought its challenges with cold rain and gusts up to 15 knots. The Optimist green fleet (the youngest and least experienced skippers) got off 9 races over the two days resulting in a win for Bruno Wencelblat of Coral Gables Sailing Center. The Optimist Red, White, and Blue fleet was won by Stephan Baker of Coral Reef Yacht Club. Martina Sly of Coral Reef won the 420 event and Katie Lounsbury won the 4.7 race. Out of the 48 Radial boats that raced Scott Rasmussen was the winner from Lauderdale Yacht Club. For full results of all the races you can visit www.regattanetwork.com.
Last year's Naples Cup was canceled due to beach re-nourishment so despite the inconsistent weather, this year was a huge success and everyone involved had a great time and were happy to be back in Naples. A lot of out-of-towners got their first taste of Naples and people were in awe of how beautiful our town is. Events like these are just another reason Naples, Florida is a great place to raise a family and enjoy what Southwest Florida has to offer. This is my son Asher's second year being involved in the sailing community and I cannot express how much it has helped him develop as a person. We are all looking forward to next year's Naples Cup.
For more information on Naples and Naples real estate please contact Adam Carriero at 239-641-3876 or [email protected]
Please contact Adam Carriero at [email protected] or 239.641.3876. I am available for consultation on the Naples, Florida, market.