Harvest Moon Regatta to bring hundreds of sailors to the island this weekend

Lakewood Yacht Club's 20th annual Harvest Moon Regatta from Galveston, 153 nautical miles across the Gulf of Mexico to Port Aransas will be held this weekend.

Each year during the October full moon, Port Aransas welcomes some 2,000 sailors of the Harvest Moon Regatta, also known as the Rum Regatta because of its Bacardi rum sponsorship. The regatta is the largest offshore

regatta sailed point to point in the U.S. coastal waters. The race begins today, Thursday, Oct. 5, and ends Friday or Saturday, Oct. 6 or 7, depending upon the speed of the boats and the wind conditions over the Gulf. More than 275 boats are expected to participate.

Participants gather at the Fred Rhodes Memorial Pavilion at Roberts Point Park for a welcoming party, and end with a farewell breakfast on Sunday morning.