BRADENTON, Fla. — Community and business leaders in Manatee County gathered on Tuesday together to announce the return of the Bradenton Area Regatta.
The cities of Bradenton and Palmetto held a joint press conference at the Pier 22 Restaurant in Bradenton ahead of the Seventh Annual Bradenton Area Regatta. The regatta which is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 12, is a day-long community event and is free to the public.
The event is an economic driver with more than 100,000 spectators estimated to troop down to the shorelines to watch the event. Business leaders anticipate that, along with spending time watching the regatta, they would also do some shopping in area stores and dining with their families at local restaurants to bring a boost to the weekend economy.
Some of the speakers and leaders who spoke include Mayor Gene Brown of Bradenton, a representative of Mayor Shirley Groover of Palmetto, Elliott Falcione, who is the executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention of Visitors Bureau, as well as previous regatta participants.
"The first year it happened, eight years ago, my grandson was four years old. He and I got here at seven in the morning, did the fishing tournaments, and stayed till the fireworks," said Mayor Brown.
The organizers said attendees should expect to see entertainment on land and water, interactive family activities, and vibrant musical performances of different genres.
Manatee County leaders said over the years, the one-day event has pulled in more than $8 million for the local economy and they expect more this year. They hope the tourism dollars would help boost Manatee County's urban corridor which includes the cities of Bradenton and Palmetto.
"Every year, we continue to build on that and then build to where people want to come downtown, and the more people in downtown, the more development is going to happen downtown," Brown said.
The main attraction of the Regatta though is the high-speed F-2 Powerboats race. Several professional boat racers who are fan favorites are set to return to rock the river at the regatta.
"Powerboat Superleague, the oldest and most respected racing circuit in the F-2 division, will rock the Manatee River with powerful and agile watercraft for the largest single-day racing event on the American Power Boat Association Circuit," read a statement from the organizers.
"New to this year’s Regatta is the dynamic racing class called SST-45 'Formula Lights'. These nimble but powerful vessels are smaller and lighter watercraft than the Formula-2 big boys, but they are nearly as loud and just as entertaining. At roughly 12-feet long and 700 pounds, the 45-footers get their nickname, 'Formula Lights,' by navigating their stealthy frames with superior skill, while hitting speeds of 70 mph. Regatta fans have a front-row seat to it all," the statement continued.
Some of the previous powerboat racers who once traveled to the event are now local to Manatee County.
"We've been racing as a team for about 10 years or more and we've done all types of powerboat racing," said Mike Quindazzi. His wife Emma is his teammate and acts as a spotter. They moved all their boats to Manatee County and now call the county home after several visits.
"And we can't wait to get going and get racing and hopefully you'll hear them say 'the Quindazzi's are coming up the backstretch and are going to take the win,'" said Emma Quindazzi.
The regatta is a collaborative event involving the county and the cities of Bradenton and Palmetto. According to officials, Manatee County Government is providing around $200,000 while the City of Bradenton is providing around $40,000 in capital cost.
"That's our public works staff, you know, obviously the police and fire and you know. It's budgeted in now because we know this is an event we want to keep for a long time," said Brown.
The event is free to the public and officials said they have made provisions for ample parking spaces. Some regatta events begin as early as 7 a.m. with the day ending with a display of fireworks at night.