Colorful Small Sailboat Regatta Here This WeekendBy Anne McKay Garris
Young Clearwater Sailors prepare for Carlisle Classic Regatta this weekend. Last weekend it was bicycles, all over Clearwater Beach. This week it will be small sailboats, all over Clearwater Bay. The Clearwater Community Sailing Center is sponsoring the annual Carlisle Classic Championship Regatta on Saturday and Sunday, November 21 and 22. The Sailing Center, which has hosted a number of serious sailboat races, call this their fun race. And, it's open to everyone. Anyone with a one-design boat can participate, and you don't have to be an expert. You can call the Sailing Center at 517-7776. Or show up, if you like, in time to register on Saturday morning before the start of the first race at 9:00 a.m. "The more, the merrier," says Donna Sue Marks, spokesman for the event. "We even have a large number of Green Fleet sailors," she added. Green Fleet sailors are the youngsters, the beginners in the popular Optimist Pram sailboat and, in the Carlisle Classic, they are a force to be reckoned with. While the larger boats, sailed by older and more experienced skippers, make their majestic way around the race course, it's the "Opti's" that are fun to watch, darting about the water like dragon flies, their colorful sails dancing in the wind. Also gracing the Bay during the Carlisle Classic will be the Access Dinghies, specially designed to be sailed by skippers whose physical limitations would have otherwise kept them ashore. The Access Dinghy Fleet is an outstanding feature of the Clearwater Community Sailing Center and valued by all who participate. A variety of other boats; Daysailors, Big Fish, Sunfish, Lasers, 420's, Windmills, will be a part of the mix this week-end. Volunteers from the membership of the Sailing Center will participate in making the day successful for all the participants. On Saturday evening there will be a celebration dinner in the elegant upstairs party room at the Center, sponsored by Island Way Grill. And even some members of the young beginners Green Fleet will take home a trophy.
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