Keeping it Real in Central Florida

We are familiar with the popular weekday beer can race, but the folks at Lake Monroe Sailing Association have raised the stakes with their Wednesday Night Rum Race sponsored by Gosling’s Black Seal Rum.

Maybe it’s the rum, but they are doing things a bit different… and we like it.

Every Wednesday during Day Light Savings, the Lake Monroe Sailing Association holds an impromptu sailboat race on Lake Monroe in Sanford, Florida. This race is open to all sailors in the area that want to come out and sail. It’s free of charge and gaining popularity with the sailing community.

Each Wednesday, teams are to sign in at the table outside the LMSA club house located on Marina Isle and get the race course which will change from week to week based on weather or other conditions. As for the start, there is a five minute window between 6:25 – 6:30pm that all boats must cross the start line to be a valid participant.

In the spirit of Corinthian sailing, all teams are in charge of keeping their own elapsed time and turning their time in at The Breezeway Restaurant and Bar in downtown Sanford (or you can text it too). The Breezeway has hosted the Wednesday Night Rum Race the last four years.

As teams discuss the race and enjoying the Breezeway’s food and Gosling’s Dark n’ Stormy’s, the elapsed times are converted into corrected times using US Sailing’s D-PN chart (Portsmouth Yardstick). Winners in three classes – Multi-hull, Planing Hull, and Displacement Hull – are then announced and receive an LMSA Rum Race Winner Sticker.

And for those that didn’t win on the race course, they can still vie for the giveaways that night which are, of course, bottles of Gosling Black Seal Rum and Ginger Beer to make their own Dark n’ Stormy’s!

So if you are in Central Florida on a Wednesday night, Lake Monroe looks like the place to be.