At 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 27, a race committee boat on Upper Hillsborough Bay will sound the first warning signal of the Star Class North American Championship. The race area sits just south of Davis Island Yacht Club. Ten days after the Star fleet finishes, a bigger fleet arrives. The A-Class Catamaran World Championship brings boats from North America, South America, Europe and Oceania to that same patch of water.
For about three weeks this fall, the far end of Severn Avenue is the venue for two championship events back to back. The club at 1315 Severn Avenue is the host. The City of Tampa's public beach next door has been folded into the operation.
Two championships, back to back on the same water
The Star North Americans come first. The amended Notice of Race, dated September 25, 2026, puts registration and inspection on October 25 and 26. Racing runs October 27 through 30, with two races a day and eight in all. First warnings are at 11:00 a.m., and no warning signal may come after 3:30 p.m. on October 30. The Star Class homepage still lists October 24 to 29. The detailed race schedule in the notice is the one to follow.
As of October 12, the entry list shows 19 boats: 16 from the United States, one from Canada and two from Germany. George Szabo, the 2009 Star World Champion, is on it. So is Jack Jennings, who won the 2025 North Americans. The Star is a two-person keelboat. A fleet of 19 is small enough to pick out individual boats from shore.
The catamarans are a different scale. The A Cat Admiral's Cup comes first, with three races a day and warnings at 11:00 a.m. on November 5 and 6. The World Championship follows. The Worlds registration page shows 79 entries as of October 12, with 61 in the Classic division and 18 in the Open division. They carry 11 national sail codes: USA, CAN, AUS, ESP, POL, ISV, BRA, ARG, NZL, FRA and ITA.
The organizers' documents disagree slightly on the final day. The Notice of Race schedules 11:00 a.m. warnings from November 9 through 14, with two races a day and 12 in total. The club's event page lists racing November 9 through 13 and treats Saturday, November 14, as an alternate day. Both put the racing on windward-leeward courses in Hillsborough Bay south of Davis Islands.
This Worlds has a short history in the United States. The International A-Division Catamaran Association's archive of major events lists only two earlier U.S. Worlds, Houston in 2022 and Islamorada in 2012. Over the past 14 years, the championship has come to the United States twice. This year it is racing off the end of Davis Islands.
The public beach becomes part of the boat park
Seventy-nine catamarans need a lot of room on land. Each one has to be rigged, stored and launched every day. The club's plan reaches past its own gates to make that room. The official venue page for the Worlds puts it plainly:
"The Club has worked with the City of Tampa to allow parking and launching from the public beach in addition to from our Club property."
The club's event logistics page gives the rest. Boats launch from Davis Island Yacht Club Point Beach, at the end of the road past the clubhouse. Competitors have three hoists on site. Trailers and containers are to be placed close to the launch area. Competitors' vehicles are to be parked outside the club gates during the regatta, with temporary access only for launch prep and haul-out. The club says boat and trailer spots will be assigned closer to the event.
For anyone who uses the south end on weekday mornings, that means two things. First, the cars belonging to an international fleet will be parked on public streets outside the club's gates. Second, the beach next door will hold racing catamarans and trailers along with its usual towels and kayaks. None of the event documents describe a public viewing area or spectator plan.
The beach's water has its own calendar. The City of Tampa's advisories page says that as of October 8, Davis Islands Beach was under an advisory after rating poor for high fecal bacteria. The advisory stays in effect until at least October 15 or 16, when the next test results are due. The Florida Healthy Beaches page for Davis Island Beach shows how quickly the reading changed. The September 9 and September 15 samples each read 4 enterococci, rated good. The reading rose to 52 on September 30 and to 120 on October 7, which triggered the advisory. Readings like these change from week to week. The October 7 number tells you nothing about the water on race day, so check the current status before going in.
Where the fall racing sits in the full season
The two championships are the busiest stretch of a longer season. The club's regatta schedule runs straight through to the holidays, and the season ends with a boat parade that starts off the island.
| Date | Event | Where it starts |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 17–18 | DIYSF Optimist Green Fleet Regatta | Davis Island Yacht Club |
| Oct. 24 | Halloween Regatta, Boat of the Year series | Davis Island Yacht Club |
| Oct. 27–30 | Star Class North American Championship racing | Upper Hillsborough Bay, south of DIYC |
| Nov. 5–6 | A Cat Admiral's Cup racing | Hillsborough Bay, south of Davis Islands |
| Nov. 7 | Sailing Sisters Regatta | Davis Island Yacht Club |
| Nov. 9–14 | A-Class Catamaran World Championship racing | Hillsborough Bay, south of Davis Islands |
| Nov. 21 | Egmont BOTY Race | Davis Island Yacht Club |
| Nov. 27 | Old Shoe/New Shoe Regatta | Davis Island Yacht Club |
| Dec. 4–6 | J/70 Winter Series #1 | Davis Island Yacht Club |
| Dec. 13 | Keelboat BOTY Regatta | Davis Island Yacht Club |
| Dec. 19, 6:15 p.m. | Holiday Lighted Boat Parade | Near the Lighthouse off Davis Islands |
The club gives two sets of dates for the first J/70 weekend. Its homepage says December 4 to 6, and its regatta list says December 5 and 6. One November race on the list is far older than either championship. The club's regatta history traces the Egmont Key Race back to 1935 and calls it the oldest running sailboat race on Florida's west coast. The 2026 Star North Americans visitor packet adds that the race has run every year since then except during the war years.
The season ends with the Tampa Riverwalk Holiday Lighted Boat Parade. It runs Saturday, December 19, at 6:15 p.m. The route starts near the Lighthouse off Davis Islands and passes Sparkman Wharf, Harbour Island and the Tampa Convention Center. Friends of the Riverwalk has not yet posted boat registration details or named viewing spots on the island.
The rest of the island's waterfront is changing too
The racing is temporary. Two other changes on the island's waterfront are longer-term.
Marjorie Park Marina at 97 Columbia Drive is running again. The City of Tampa reports the marina was "back online as of September 2026," with its recreational and diesel fuel pumps and its pumpout stations working. The City's marina page lists off-road diesel and mid-grade gasoline at the dock. It also lists hourly, daily and weekly transient slips, 32 monthly slips, restrooms, laundry, showers, a weather station and a ship store. For boat owners on the island, this is the nearest public fuel dock open again for a fall with a lot of boats on the water.
The Seaplane Basin is next in line for work. The City's Davis Islands Seaplane Basin Mooring Field project would replace the failing docks there and add a mooring field and navigation aids "to make the basin safer and cleaner." The project is in design and permitting. Its planned dates run from March 31, 2027, to January 31, 2028.
If you'd like to talk through what living near the yacht club, the marina or the Seaplane Basin means for a Davis Islands home, Phillip Ochoa knows the island's waterfront dock by dock, in English or Spanish. Schedule a Consultation, and let's talk about your corner of the island before the catamarans arrive.
