Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt,[1] and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.[2]
A regatta is a series of boat races.[3] The term comes from the Venetian language, with regata meaning "contest, contention for mastery"(from regatare ("compete, haggle, sell at retail"), possibly from recatare) and 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; for example “valley field”.[4]
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 boat type, but are often held just for the joy of competition, camaraderie, and general promotion of the sport.
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.
Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, in the first week of August is one of the largest annual regattas in North America, attracting hundreds of clubs in 128 junior, senior, and master's events.
Dominion Day Regatta, held every year since 1884 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The oldest and largest combined paddling and rowing regatta for participants across North America.
Sailing race events are typically held for a single one design class 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.
The Barcolana regatta of the yacht club Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano is currently the Guinness world record holder as the "largest sailing race" with 2,689 boats and over 16,000 sailors at the starting line.[5] 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.
The Athlone Yacht Club Regatta on Lough Ree, Ireland[9]
Appledore & Instow Regatta[10] – founded in 1885, tracing its origins back to 1831, is held annually on the River Torridge between the Villages of Appledore & Instow North Devon, UK.
Barcolana Autumn Cup Regatta, one of the largest single start sailing regattas in the world,[11] held annually on the second Sunday of October in Trieste, Italy
Carriacou Regatta Festival, Hillsborough, Carriacou, Grenada. W.I. - First weekend in August each year.
CASON Grand Prize Solo Regatta, Lake Balaton, Hungary, held annually in September.
Charleston Race Week, Charleston, South Carolina, held each April for three days, with races staged both in Charleston Harbor and offshore.
Chester Race Week, Chester, Nova Scotia, Canada, 15 keelboat fleets race for 4 full days on 5 courses in mid-August on Mahone Bay
Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, held annually in July, starting in Chicago on Lake Michigan and ending at Mackinac Island on Lake Huron.
Columbus Day Regatta, Miami, Florida, annually in October.
Chichester-Cowes Challenge, held annually at the end of June on the Solent, and welcomes only classic wooden boats, mainly built in the 1920s–1930s.[12]
Fowey Royal Regatta, FoweyCornwall annually in August[13]
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
Harvest Moon Regatta, Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook Texas hosts cruisers regatta during full moon in October each year from Galveston to Port Aransas[14]
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 East England), Deal (Kent), Grafham Water (Cambridgeshire), Weymouth (Dorset) to name just a few.
The CoEP Regatta, Mula River, College of Engineering, Pune - Held annually in March (since 1928), one of the oldest and most celebrated regattas in India
Mustang Open Regatta, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Motorboat racing
24 Heures Motonautiques de Rouen – a 24-hour circuit boat race in Rouen, France
Archer eade memorial – an unlimited outboard race consisting of six laps
APBA Gold Cup – an unlimited hydroplane race in the H1 Unlimited series. It is the oldest trophy in motorsports.
XCAT Racing – a sport involving Extreme Catamarans or XCATs; XCAT Racing is promoted by the World Professional Powerboating Association (WPPA) and governed by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM)[16]
Drag boat racing – a form of drag racing which takes place on water rather than land
Hydroplane racing – a sport involving racing hydroplanes on lakes and rivers
^Strouhal, Evžen (1992), Life of the ancient Egyptians, p. 46
^"What is Boat Racing?". www.rookieroad.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
^"RRS | Post". rrs.sh. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
^"Regatta Information | JUSTICE ROWING". Retrieved 2024-07-19.
^"Barcolana, the largest regatta in the world is presented in London". Sail-World. 14 Jun 2019.
^Hunts Yachting Magazine 1865
^Leinster Express, 30 August 1834
^Sapp, Claudette Gaudet. Sailor & Rattling Teacups: A History of the Chester Yacht Club.
^Athlone Sentinel, 31 Aug. 1835
^"Appledore & Instow Regatta". Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
^"Barcolana record falls, Esimit Europa 2 leads fleet of 1852 in the world's largest single start regatta". TheDailySail. Archived from the original on 2016-08-07. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
^http://www.yachtregatta.co.uk Archived 2013-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
^"FOWEY ROYAL REGATTA 2015 | RED ARROWS, CARNIVAL, FIREWORKS, GIANT PASTY & SO MUCH MORE!". Foweyroyalregatta.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
^HarvestMoonRegatta.com
^"IYRL International Yacht Regatta Limited". Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
^World Professional Powerboating Association Archived May 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, UIM
External links
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