RacingEvents
The Rudder Club of Jacksonville hosts a diverse set of racing events. We are best known for the Mug Race, a one-way long distance race from Palatka to Jacksonville the first Saturday of May. For 54 years, sailors have tried the challenge of Mug Race in boats ranging from sailing canoes and Sunfish to high-tech catamarans.
The club also offers three regattas in a traditional two-day format: the River City Regatta in the Spring, Labor Day Regatta at the end of Summer, and Gator Bowl Regatta in December. Each of these regattas offers both one-design races ‘around the buoys’, and distance races for PHRF yachts. If these aren’t enough for you, come out and enjoy the Hangover Regatta on January 1st, and the Moonlight Regatta some full-moon night during the summer. Our racing schedule is coordinated with the First Coast Sailing Association, which is also responsible for PHRF handicapping in the area.
Less formally, the club hosts ‘Frostbite’ (by Florida standards), Summer, and Fall Series Races. Each series consists of four Saturday afternoon one-design and PHRF races. This is where novices learn, and the experienced polish their skills.
The club is home to many accomplished PHRF-class racing skippers and their boats. The most active one-design fleet is the Flying Scots, but we also have one-design sailors in A-Cats, F18s, Hobie 16s and 420s. To encourage racing, regatta registration fees are waived for Rudder Club members (the exception is Mug Race). So there’s no excuse! Get your crew together, shake out the spinnaker, and hit the starting line.
To see the upcoming racing schedule, go to the Club Calendar, or the page for each event.