Yacht Club, Mote Team Up For Annual Regatta

SARASOTA, FL – The longest running sailing regatta on Sarasota Bay will have a first-time partner in 2017.

The Bird Key Yacht Club will host The Sarasota Bay Cup: The Mote Marine Laboratory Regatta on Saturday, April 22 starting at 11 a.m. on the waters of Sarasota Bay. The regatta will be sailed by as many as 100 boats and will generate funds for mote, a nonprofit organization specializing in marine research.

“Our goal is to expand the appeal and exposure of sailing to a much wider community and become a centerpiece event for Sarasota,” said Bill Jacobs, the chairman of the event.

Race spectators will be able to see some of the action from Ken Thompson Park, 1700 Ken Thompson Parkway. Bird Key Park, located west of the Ringling Bridge, will also have a good view of the junior sailing event.

The Sarasota Bay Cup first sailed in the 1920s, and became the premier yachting event in the area for the next 30 years. The event was resurrected and sponsored by the Bird Key Yacht Club in 2008, and has become the most successful and well attended race of the Sarasota Bay Yacht Racing Association.

“Mote is honored to be named the first-ever charitable partner of this classic event,” said Dr. Michael P. Crosby, Mote president and CEO. “We are pleased to participate in an event where everyone in our community has the opportunity to take advantage of our beautiful bay, where Mote scientists conduct world-class marine research every day. Mote is thankful to Bird Key Yacht Club for their partnership and philanthropic investment in support of our mission through the historical Sarasota Bay Cup.”

Prizes will be awarded to the top boats in each class, depending on entries. The Sarasota Bay Cup Perpetual Trophy will be awarded to the best performing boat as determined by the race committee.

Award presentations following the races will be held at two locations: The adult competitors will be awarded trophies at the Bird Key Yacht Club. The junior sailors will have a special awards banquet at Mote.

For more information or to register for the regatta, visit http://www.birdkeyyc.com/ and click on “Register for Regatta.”

Caption: Dr. Michael P. Crosby, President & CEO of Mote, and Charlie Wilson, Rear Commodore of the Bird Key Yacht Club, are excited to partner for The Sarasota Bay Cup: The Mote Marine Laboratory Regatta. Credit: Conor Goulding/Mote Marine Lab.