They came in record numbers in mid-February at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club's Valentine's Day International Regatta - the second largest Optimist class regatta ever held in the U.S. - and the competition was even better than the numbers.

After two days of racing Feb. 12-13 and a mix of wind conditions, it came down to the final race in the 191-boat gold fleet to pick the winner. Shibuci IItsuka, one of a dozen boy and girl Japanese sailors in town for the international competition, finished with two top-ten placings in the huge fleet to edge Keiko Hirai, also from Japan, by 14 points after six races. Hirai was also the top girl racer with a comfortable edge over Leigh Kempton of New Jersey, who finished second among the girls and eighth overall.

Japanese sailors dominated the youth event with five competitors in the top ten spots.

Cullen Shaughnessy, who sails and trains with the St. Petersburg Yacht Club but now lives in Marco Island, FL, was the top local sailor with a closing race fourth-place finish moving him up to sixth overall, 28 points behind the winner. Mitch Hall of the Clearwater Yacht Club finished seventh, two points behind Shaughnessy, after a second-place finish in the final race Sunday.

Commenting on the growth of this popular midwinter regatta, on-the-water race chairman Kenneth Andreasen said, "This is definitely the biggest one...one of the highest levels (of competition) also."

With 258 boats - 191 in the more competitive gold fleet and 67 in the silver fleet - logistics and past experience by the race committee dictated that one landside change be made this year. The launching of the boats was moved to the beach at North Shore Park to speed up the process of getting 250-plus sailors out to the race courses each morning.

The boats had been launched from the St. Petersburg Sailing Center on Demens Landing in past years, but the sheer number of boats and limited space at the sailing center prompted the move.

"The city of St. Petersburg has been extremely helpful," Andreasen said about the use of the beach and park grounds just north of the North Shore swimming pool.

Alix Brett of St. Petersburg took top honors after winning the fifth and final race in the silver fleet. She was also the top girl. Finishing second overall and second girl was Miho Masukawa of Japan, eight points behind Brett. Patrick Ryan of the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans was third, and Casilda Guzman of Mexico placed fourth in the silver fleet.

After an opening day of races Saturday with conditions described by Andreasen as "perfect," Sunday's action took a while to develop. The armada of race boats, spectator boats, coach boats, and race safety boats meandered around for four hours waiting for the wind to fill in. The sea breeze finally kicked in after 1 p.m. and allowed the race committee to get in two quick races Sunday afternoon.

The Valentine's Day regatta has grown dramatically in recent years, and landside race chairman Joe Frohock said that entry limits may have to be set to keep the fleet at 300 boats next year. This year's event saw competitors from 18 states, 12 countries, and the U.S. Virgin Islands race for two days on Tampa Bay with courses set up east of The Pier in downtown St. Petersburg. In addition to the huge number of competitors, there were several dozen small support boats from the various sailing clubs helping their sailors between races and another 60 to 65 volunteers taking care of the landside and on-the-water race duties.