Lots of goodies are coming down from the North Pole and the latest comes in the form of a new GP race in beautiful sunny South Florida! What a way to start our spring racing season! Chuck “Rookie” Woodruff and their 19 club board members are putting on the “Stuart Sailfish Regatta” in Stuart, Florida April 14th and 15th, 2012. It’s not official yet but there’s so much going on these days with our ACHA series I wanted to get the word out to all our GP members.
Stuart, Florida is less than 1500 miles from Montreal, Quebec and what better way to test and tune our boats and get great show money than to spend a nice warm weekend in sunny South Florida. This won’t be an ACHA-GP series race this year but could become a series race in 2013. Running along with the GP’s will be the APBA 5L class, 2.5L stock, 2.5L mod, jersey speed skiffs, and a class of flat bottoms.
I traveled to South Florida two weeks ago to survey the course and go over some logistics with Chuck. We spent all day Saturday reviewing the race course, pit areas, camping areas, hotels, restaurants, etc. We also checked out the local shopping centers for the girls and the nightclubs for the youngsters over 18. All I can say is, WOW! You won’t want to miss this event and what their talking show money for our GP’s; it should cover most of your travel expenses.
Chuck brought along an event booklet which was about 2 inches thick of permits, regulations, and about fifty other things he’s got to address to make this event happen. As of this week, he’s finished about 70% of these requirements. At our APBA convention in Chicago Chuck is going to ask our Inboard commission if their race can be awarded the “GRAND PRIX NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONS” for 2012.
For those who haven’t heard of Rookie (Chuck Woodruff) he raced in several inboard classes and won several Nationals in the seven liter class in his “Project 7″ and “Southern 7” in the late 1980s. I wonder if Rookie would ever make a comeback, like in ACHA-GP, what a welcome addition that would be.
For those of you that would like more info on this new race event you can call Chuck at 772-475-0012 or e-mail him at rookie77@bellsouth.net
Until then, think warm weather and have a great holiday season,
Huey
Huey,
Thanks for the great introduction to the Stuart Sailfish Regatta!!
Yea, as we talked about how you northerns can come to the Treasure Coast of Florida and thaw out after your winter on our miles and miles of beautiful beaches and maybe enjoy some sportfishing here in Stuart the Sailfish Capital. Oh yea, and race your boat!!
Thanks again
Chuck Woodruff