THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 30, 1996 TAG: 9606300235
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: 128 lines
If you own a sailboat, like to watch boats sail or just enjoy being around sailboats, mark your calendar for July 20.
That's the day as many as 300 large and small sailing vessels will get together for what just may be the year's biggest event on the Elizabeth River.
It's the Cock Island Race, although many will tell you that it's a lot more party than race.
Even Mo Whitlow, the event's founder and an attorney in Portsmouth, says it's a ``serious race for non-serious sailors and a non-serious race for serious sailors'' (read racers).
Regardless, it's the greatest collection of sailboats you're likely to see at one time.
Because of Coast Guard safety regulations, the first eight races were limited to 200 boats. The max was always reached, with a long waiting list, just in case someone dropped out at the last minute.
The Coast Guard has relaxed its regulations this year to allow as many as 300 boats to cross the starting line. But they won't all go at once. The fleet will be divided into 10 classes, the first starting at 9:30 a.m.
Because the start - and finish - is between the Portsmouth Seawall and Norfolk's Waterside, spectators are afforded something rare for a sailboat race: a good spot to watch the boats leave and return.
This is a pretty narrow spot on the river, so if previous races have been a bit chaotic, this one should serve up complete bedlam.
It's not like the boats will be alone for a run into Hampton Roads and back. While it's not the Hudson, the Elizabeth is one of the country's busiest waterways.
In addition to keeping out of one another's way, contestants will have to contend with Navy and merchant ships, tugs towing and pushing barges, ferries, sightseeing and cruise boats, and other commercial and recreational craft.
Still, for most crews, the confusion will be justified. Starting Friday afternoon, July 19, Ports-Events, the race's host, will stage two evenings of partying, including street dancing, live bands and lots and lots of beer.
You still have time to register by calling Ports-Events at 393-9933. But, says Sandy Craig, the event's promoter, ``They better hurry. We're filling up fast.''
KID STUFF: If you have a child instead of a sailboat, here's an event you might not want to miss: the annual youth fishing tournament at Nags Head.
Set for July 10, the event usually attracts about 200 youngsters. It's staged by the Nags Head Surf Fishing Club and the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association.
The fee will be 50 cents, and I have a feeling that if a kid can't come up with that amount, someone will be there who will.
Kids can register between 8 and 9 a.m. at any fishing pier between Kitty Hawk and South Nags Head. There will be two age brackets: those under 13 and those 13 to 16.
Eligible species will include spot, croaker, flounder, kingfish, bluefish, pompano, triggerfish, trout and puppy drum. Winners will receive trophies and rods and reels.
You can get additional information from Joe Monroe at (919) 261-2145.
MORE KID STUFF: The Virginia B.A.S.S. Federation has donated $1,500 from a recent fishing contest to aid sick kids.
The Children's Miracle Network and Children's Hospital of Richmond were benefactors of the program, staged by the affiliate of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. Another $900 was earmarked for the federation's youth program.
A record 76 two-person teams competed in the contest, held out of Powhatan Resorts near Williamsburg. The winners were John Mansini and Hector Martinez of Richmond, with a catch weighing 23.86 pounds.
DUCK, BOATERS: Apparently it is time once again to remind boaters of the meaning of those big red flags occasionally flying from the shoreline at Camp Pendleton in Virginia Beach.
They're a warning of high-powered-rifle shooting at the National Guard base. And that means boaters should remain at least 3 miles offshore.
The flags are flown about once a month. Shooting frequently must be delayed because recreational fishermen and other boaters are in the area.
Such was the case just recently.
This competition utilizes .30-06 rifles, which can propel a slug about 5,000 yards - almost 3 miles.
So if you see the red flags, race to the east.
RECORD CATCH? Can the same fish qualify for two records at different weights? Yes, apparently.
The current world record for spadefish is 14 pounds, as recognized by the International Game Fish Association. It is held by Otis Tribble of Topping, Va., for a fish caught in 1988 at the degaussing cell in the Chesapeake Bay off the lower Eastern Shore.
Topping also holds the Virginia record with a 13-pound spadefish. Same fish? You betcha.
Topping first weighed the fish at 14 pounds on certified scales the day he caught it. But it was a week before he could get to scales recognized by the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament, the state's official record-keeper. By then the fish, frozen, had dehydrated and weighed 13 pounds.
Claude Bain, director of the Virginia contest, said changes have been made.
``Today, if we get a report of a possible world record, we'll have someone there just as quickly as possible, usually in less than an hour,'' he said.
RAMP REQUEST: The folks at the Division of State Parks are still trying to get their hands on some of the money from Virginia's saltwater fishing license.
After having several similar requests denied by the Recreational Fishing License Advisory Board, state parks now want $325,000 to help build a boat ramp and basin at Kiptopeke State Park, on the lower Eastern Shore.
The board advises the Virginia Marine Resources Commission on expenditures from the $1.4 million received annually from fishing license sales.
The Kiptopeke project would cost $700,000, with another $325,000 coming from park funds and $50,000 from the sale of Chesapeake Bay auto licenses.
This is a bad idea for the same reason other ramp projects have been bad ideas. Basically, why should recreational fishermen pay for facilities that are going to be used by divers, sailors, sightseers, jet-skiers and other non-fishermen?
Besides, if the state is going to spend that kind of money on a boat ramp, why not at Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach?
That's been the most critical need for a public ramp for more than 25 years.
SHORT CASTS: The board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will meet from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday to hear public comments before setting 1996 hunting seasons for dove, railbirds, woodcock and resident Canada geese. The meeting will be in the agency's headquarters, at 4010 W. Broad St. in Richmond. For details, call (804) 367-1000. . . . Mike Firestone of Norfolk has earned a citation from the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament with a 45-pound cobia, caught from the boat Capt.'s Choice. . . . Linda Nolasco of Virginia Beach scored with a 41-0 red drum on the Happy Hooker. . . . Harvey Belcher of Currituck, N.C., has earned an award from the Key West, Fla., fishing tournament with a 27-8 barracuda, caught from the Greyhound V. . . . Richard Welton and Herb Gordon, who host a weekly fishing show on Cox Cable Channel 11, will talk about fishing for Spanish mackerel and amberjack at the July 15 meeting of the Tidewater Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association. Open to anyone, it'll be in the Virginia Colonial Room at the Lake Wright Motor Hotel on Northampton Boulevard, starting at 7:30 p.m. . . . Mike Terry of Obion, Tenn., is the first person to win $100,000 in a bass-fishing contest. He took first place in the Forrest Wood Open on Kerr Lake. His final-round catch weighed 18-1. by CNB