One of the most iconic and dangerous sailboat races in the world will once again head towards Hatteras Island in 2024, with organizers recently announcing the official schedule and 13 checkpoints that will be dotted along the East Coast once the race begins.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024, the Worrell 1000 challenges sailors to a dangerous 1,000-mile trek up the East Coast, with overnight stops along the roughly two-week journey.
“The event will be run on boats in the Formula 18 class, launching from and finishing on select beaches from Hollywood, FL to Virginia Beach, VA,” stated organizers in an update. “It’s 1000 miles of offshore sailing for the most daring and capable sailors.”
“The response from fans, sponsors, public officials and the social media following has been incredible! Posts on Facebook alone topped 20k each day since registration opened in April of this year. And for 2024, we’re excited to expand the coverage on the beach, on the water, and to bring the sailors’ stories to you in a way that feels personal.”
With a little under a year until the 2024 event, the registration list has reached the entry cap of 15 teams and includes three alternates representing countries from around the globe. These teams include the following:
- USA – 12 Teams
- Australia – 3 Teams
- The Netherlands – 1 Team
- Germany – 1 Team
- Sweden – 1 Team
Locally, the Worrell 1000 sailors will be arriving on Hatteras Island on Wednesday, May 22, and the complete schedule of stops is listed below:
- Sunday, May 12: Hollywood, FL to Jensen Beach, FL
- Monday, May 13: Jensen Beach, FL to Cocoa Beach, FL
- Tuesday, May 14: Cocoa Beach, FL to Daytona Beach, FL
- Wednesday, May 15: Daytona Beach, FL to Jacksonville Beach, FL
- Thursday, May 16: Jacksonville Beach, FL to Tybee Island, GA
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Photo by Don Bowers Friday, May 17: Tybee Island, GA to Folly Beach, SC
- Saturday, May 18: Folly Beach, SC (lay day)
- Sunday, May 19: Folly Beach, SC to Surfside Beach, SC
- Monday, May 20: Surfside Beach, SC to Wrightsville Beach, NC
- Tuesday, May 21: Wrightsville Beach, NC to Atlantic Beach, NC
- Wednesday, May 22: Atlantic Beach, NC to Hatteras, NC
- Thursday, May 23: Hatteras, NC to Kill Devil Hills, NC
- Friday, May 24: Kill Devil Hills, NC to Virginia Beach, VA
- Saturday, May 25: Awards Banquet, Virginia Beach, VA
The Worrell Race technically began in 1974, when the race’s namesake, Michael Worrell, was having a conversation and a few beers with sailing buddies, and the topic turned to the improbability of sailing a catamaran vessel up the East Coast.
That initial beer-fueled conversation turned into action, and two years later in 1976, the inaugural Worrell Brothers Coastwise Race was launched with a total of four teams.
Growing in popularity, the race quickly became a fixture on the sailing scene in the years that followed, and it became world-renowned among sailors with an adventurous inclination.
The rules of the race are deceivingly simple. From southern Florida, competitors head north up the coastline before finishing at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. The race plays out in multiple stages, (from checkpoint to checkpoint), and the team with the shortest overall combined time wins.
Hatteras Island is at the last leg of the journey, and in 2022, (the last time the race was held), 13 competing teams rolled onto the beach close to ORV Ramp 49 in Frisco before they launched the following day, making a treacherous run north through the Diamond Shoals.
Specific event details, including checkpoint info, will continue to be announced in the months to come. For more information on the Worrell 1000 Race, and to keep up with all the action leading up to the 2024 event, visit https://worrell1000race.com/.
