Regatta

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

This article is about the sport of boat racing, for the outdoor clothing brand see Regatta (clothing brand)

A regatta is a term used to describe either a boat race, or series of boat races. Although the term typically describes racing events of unpowered watercraft, some powerboat race series are also called regattas. Most commonly, a regatta is either a series of rowing, sailing or yacht racing. A regatta often includes social and promotional activities which surround the racing event, and except in the case of boat type (or "class") championships, is usually named for the town or venue where the event takes place.

Although regatta are typically amateur competitions, they are usually very highly organized, formally structured events, with complex rules precisely describing the schedule and procedures of the event. Regattas may be organized as championships for a particular area or type of boat, but are often held just for the joy of competition, camaraderie, and general promotion of the sport. Regattas may be hosted by a yacht club, sailing association, town or school as in the case of Interscholastic Sailing Association (high school) regattas or Intercollegiate Sailing Association (college) regattas.

One of the largest and most popular regattas is the Henley Royal Regatta held on the River Thames, England. The oldest running regatta in the world is Cowes Week, which is held annually by the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, England and usually attracts over 900 sailboats. North America's oldest regatta is the Royal St. John's Regatta held on Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's, Newfoundland every year since 1826. Additional examples of regattas are listed below.

Rowing regattas

Henley Royal Regatta, held every year on the river Thames is the most prestigious British event
Royal St. John's Regatta, held every year on Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's, Newfoundland, North America's oldest annual sporting event.
The Boat Race is a rowing race between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club. It is rowed annually each Spring on the Thames in London.
Regattas on the River Thames lists all Thames rowing regattas and other rowing events
Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta, held annually at the end of August on the River Dart.
Dad Vail Regatta, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Head of the Charles Regatta, on the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts
Marathon Rowing Championship a continuous 26.2-mile rowing regatta on Cane River Lake in Natchitoches, Louisiana
maltese regatta
The Croco's Cup, international rowing regatta at University level held every year in Paris since 1985, organised by students of ENSTA (Paristech).
COEP regatta held annually at the College of Engineering Pune in India

Sailing regattas

America's Cup, hosted by prior winner
Auckland Anniversary Regatta held annually on the Waitemata Harbour to celebrate Auckland Anniversary Day
Balmain Regatta held annually on Sydney Harbour, Australia
Bass Week, Bassenthwaite Lake, Cumbria
Bay Week, Put-in-Bay, Ohio
Block Island Race Week, Rhode Island
Canada's Cup, held periodically on the Great Lakes.
CORK Regatta, Kingston, Ontario, annually in August.
CASON Grand Prize Solo Regatta, Lake Balaton, Hungary, held annually in September.
Cowes Week, Royal Yacht Squadron, England
Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta, held annually at the end of August over three days on the River Dart.
Fowey Royal Regatta, Fowey Cornwall annually in August
Hangon Regatta, an annual event in the city of Hanko, Finland, infamous for attracting large groups of partying youths with a tangential interest in the sailing itself
Kamer 2 Sailing Marathon, Kaag, Netherlands, annually in September
Key West Race Week, Key West, Florida
Kiel Week, Kiel/Germany - the largest sailing event in the world
Larchmont Race Week, Larchmont Yacht Club, New York
Long Beach Race Week, Long Beach, California
National Offshore One Design (NOOD)
Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race, Mighigan
Round Texel, Texel, Netherlands, annually in June
Sail Melbourne, Held annually on Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay
Lysekil Women's Match, Lysekil, Sweden, annually in August
Tjörn Runt, Tjörn, Sweden, annually in August
Washington's Birthday Regatta, at the Barnacle Historic State Park, Coconut Grove, Florida, annually in February
Youngstown Levels, Youngstown, New York
Figawi Race, Hyannis, MA

College Sailing Regattas

Charleston Open, College of Charleston
Kennedy Cup, US Naval Academy
The Roth Regatta, Roth Pond, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championships, various locations

High school sailing regattas

Mallory Cup, United States high school sailing national championships.
The National School Sailing Association Regatta, UK. Annual Sailing reggatta held in various sailing clubs and competed in by many secondary school students.

Other regattas

The Madison Regatta, Madison, Indiana. (hydroplanes)
Kingston Multi-Hull Regatta, Kingston, Ontario (multihull sailboats and sailing hydrofoils)
Henley-on-Todd Regatta - an Australian dry-land event.
Royal Hobart Regatta - A Multiple event 3 day Reggatta in Tasmania, Australia.
Sy Barash Regatta - discontinued event at Penn State
Worrell 1000, between South Beach and Virginia Beach, Virginia
For the Cruise Ship Regatta see Oceania Cruises

External links

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 14:35:51 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation