Worrell 1000

Worrell 1000 is a 1,000-mile beach catamaran race between South Beach, Florida and Virginia Beach, Virginia. The motto of the race is: "Iron Men, Plastic Boats."

History

The origins of Worrell 1000 can be traced to a bet in a bar at the Worrell Bros., a Virginia Beach resort restaurant. The bet was between the owners of the bar, Michael Worrell and his brother, Chris. The bet was that it was impossible to sail a sixteen-foot catamaran from Virginia Beach to Florida. On October 1, 1974, Michael Worrell and his crew Steve McGarrett left the Virginia Beach oceanfront with hopes of reaching Florida in one piece. Although they did not win the bet they still sailed through two hurricanes and had to make multiple boat repairs. After twenty days, they had to stop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida due to their catamaran being in poor condition.

Later, Worrell thought of turning the 954-mile journey into a regular regatta. The inaugural race, called "Worrell Bros. Coastwise Race", took place in May 1976. Four teams participated in the race. For that first race, limited to 16-foot hobie cats, there were very few rules. The participants could sail day and night, but they were supposed to come ashore and phone the restaurant once every 24 hours. The course was flipped with the start in Fort Lauderdale and the finish in Virginia Beach, to take advantage of the prevailing winds. The only team to finish the first race was that of Worrell and crew Guerry Beatson.