The Manatee River will be purring with horsepower from boat races and other regatta events
The annual Bradenton Area River Regatta seems to get bigger and better each year.
Saturday marks the sixth annual regatta on the Manatee River and the banks of Bradenton and Palmetto. ISM USA, the event organizer, continues to find ways to feature new events. Besides the popular Formula 2 tunnel boats from the Powerboat SuperLeague Series, this year’s regatta features the very unique racing of Jersey speed skiffs.
Though the Jersey skiffs race up and down the east coast, Midwest and into Canada, it is their first appearance on the Manatee River. They get their name from New Jersey crabbers in the 1930s during prohibition. Rum runners quickly realized the benefit of the boat’s design and speed even then.
After prohibition ended, rum runners found another way to use the boats and turned to racing. The sport of NASCAR was born in a very similar way.
“To be here in Bradenton, it’s an honor to be here with the tunnel boat guys,” said Tom Pakradonni, driver of the No. 7 Rolling Thunder. “It looks like good water, there will be a lot of spectators and we hope to put on a good show and keep the boats together.”
Pakradonni said there is nothing quite like driving a Jersey skiff, which features a two-man crew while topping speeds of 80 mph in open-air seats.
“All boats are different and all handle different. They do name boats after women for a reason. It’s because they are all different,” Pakradonni joked. “These skiffs are a handful. Sometimes they can be very pleasant, but if we get into rough water, they’ll push you around. But it’s a fun boat to drive. If you’ve driven a boat, you haven’t boated until driven a speed skiff.”
Michael Dongilli, ISM USA event manager, said the regatta has grown beyond anything anyone could have imagined.
“Year one you kind of have a vision, how you want it to turn out and more often than not, that gets scaled back or scaled down,” Dongilli said. “This has actually gone the other way. It’s gone above and beyond what we thought it could be. Here we are now over six years later topping 100,000 spectators, becoming the county’s largest single-day spectator event and we’re set to put on an exciting and thrilling show.”
Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston said the regatta is the envy of the region, if not Florida.
“Nobody has the assets we have,” Poston said. “A lot of cities have the offshore racing, but you can’t see anything. You can sort of see a boat out there, but you’re not close enough. But here you can see everything. This is up close and personal and that’s what we love about it. It’s a major event for us, all of Tampa Bay and really even Florida.”
The regattas opens up with the free Desoto Little Anglers Fishing Tournament on the Palmetto fishing pier at 8:30 a.m. Dog Frisbee and stunt shows begin at noon with shows throughout the day on Riverwalk.
Many of the other activities on both sides of the river kick off at 10 a.m. and Formula 2 and Jersey Speed Skiff races begin test runs at 10:30 a.m. Music on both sides of the river begin at noon and last until the Zambelli Fireworks show at around 6:50 p.m.
For a full schedule, visit bradentonarearegatta.com and stay with bradenton.com throughout the event for updates.
This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 2:17 PM.