Regatta

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Windjammer Parade at Kiel Week in Germany, the world's biggest regatta and sailing event
Rowing, by Lucien Davis, 1898.
File:Vanderbilt starting line.jpg
A view from the Race Committee boat at the start of Vanderbilt Sailing Club's annual SAISA regatta in 2005.
IACC-class Yacht at the Kiel Week 2005.
A team during a regatta (Lorient, France).

A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas. 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 regattas are typically amateur competitions, they are usually formally structured events, with comprehensive rules 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.

Sailing race events are typically held for a single class (a single model of boat, such as the Islander 36) and usually last more than one day. Regattas may be hosted by a yacht club, sailing association, town or school as in the case of the UK's National School Sailing Association and Interscholastic Sailing Association (high school) regattas or Intercollegiate Sailing Association (college) regattas. Currently, The Three Bridge Fiasco, conducted by the Singlehanded Sailing Society of San Francisco Bay with more than 350 competitors is the largest sailboat race in the United States.

One of the largest and most popular rowing regattas is the Henley Royal Regatta held on the River Thames, England. One of the largest and oldest yachting regattas in the world is Cowes Week, which is held annually by the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, England, and usually attracts over 900 sailboats. Cowes Week is predated by the Cumberland Cup (1775), Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta (1822) and Port of Plymouth Regatta (1823). 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 1818.

Etymology: From Venetian regata ("contention for mastery"), from regatare ("compete, haggle, sell at retail"), possibly from recatare.

Oldest sailing regattas

Rowing regattas

Sailing regattas

School regattas

  • Mallory Cup, United States high school sailing national championships.
  • Nixor College, the first college in Pakistan to launch a 'RAFT' regatta for team building.
  • Royal College Colombo, Oldest Regatta in Sri Lanka. (Royal-Thomian)
  • Sywoc, the Student Yachting World Cup organized by the students of the École Polytechnique.
  • The Brentwood Regatta is held in the spring and is one of the largest high school rowing regattas on the west coast of North America.
  • The NSSA National Youth Regatta is the largest dinghy sailing regatta and the largest youth sailing regatta in the UK. Due to its size the NYR visits a new location each year alternating between coastal and inland venues. Previous years venues include Bridlington (North Yorkshire), Datchet Sailing Club (West London) Plymouth (Devon), Redcar (North
    Mt. Baker Varsity 8 at Brentwood Regatta, April 2009.
    East England), Deal (Kent), Grafham Water (Cambridgeshire), Weymouth (Dorset) to name just a few.

University / college sailing regattas

Other regattas

See also

References