17 Feburary 2023
At
the conclusion of the Port Canaveral Race last weekend, Andrew
Clark’s J122 Zig Zag was announced as the overall winner of the
2022-23 SORC Islands in the Stream Series. After correcting out for
the race win over Pat Harr’s first-to-finish Cookson 50 En Garde,
Zig Zag won both the race to the Cape and the entire SORC series
over a packed fleet of 40-something-footers. A third place finish for the race was enough for another J122 - Tom Sutton’s Leading Edge - to lock up second for the series. Eamonn DeLisser and Jim Bill’s Farr 395 Senara broke up the J122 design dominance in the top five by claiming third place for the series, ahead of Matt Schaedler’s Blitzkrieg and Constantine Baris’ Dire Wolf in fourth and fifth, respectively.
"It was a terrific series,” said organizer Chris Woolsey, "with a handful of boats within striking distance of the win going into the last race.” ORC scoring for most races were chosen among the range of point-to-point course model options found on Page 2 of the participants 2022 certificates.
At the awards ceremony in Port Canaveral, the final award of the evening was the Luiz Legacy Trophy, awarded to the person or team who raised the most money for Warrior Sailing’s Luiz Legacy program, in honor of our friend Luiz Kahl’s legacy of support for our sport. According to Warrior Sailing National Director Ben Poucher, the fleet raised enough money to train one warrior for a year. Read more about the campaign on the Warrior Sailing’s Luiz Legacy page.
With the end of the 2022-23 Islands in the Stream Series, the focus now turns to next season. The 2023-24 edition of the SORC Islands in the Stream Series starts on November 8 with the St. Petersburg to Ft. Lauderdale Race.
"No race has been requested more than the old classic SORC race, and there will be no easing into the new season,” said Woolsey, alluding to this race’s reputation as being a challenging sail down the Gulf coast to make then make the turn east at Key West into the full teeth of the Gulf Stream up the South Florida Atlantic coast to the finish in Ft Lauderdale.
After the St Pete Race the next race will be on December 1 with the Wirth M. Munroe Memorial Palm Beach Race, the venerable "Race to the Buffet” to the Sailfish Club of Florida. The Nassau Cup Ocean Race will move from its usual November date to make way for the St. Pete to Lauderdale Race, with the race to Nassau starting on January 12, 2024.
The series will wrap up with a party on the beach in Key West, after the Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race which starts on February 22, 2024.
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