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Saint Petersburg chosen as only North American stop for the Ocean Race in 2027, organizers say
Summary
Visit Saint Pete Clearwater and local partners announced that the Ocean Race will include Saint Petersburg as the only North American stop in 2027; organizers expect lengthy in-port activities, significant global exposure and local economic benefits.
Visit Saint Pete Clearwater and partner organizations announced on Wednesday that Saint Petersburg will be the only North American stop for the Ocean Race in 2027, a multinational around-the-world yacht race whose stopovers draw large local crowds and global broadcast audiences.
Steve Grimes, Visit Saint Pete Clearwater’s marketing lead, said the in-port stopover will host the race fleet for roughly 10–12 days (tentatively May 4–16), with public events, boat visits and programming that will showcase the destination to an international television audience. "We're going to have these amazing yachts in port for ten, 12 days. There's going to be events in and around the area. We're expecting tens of thousands of people for the event," Grimes said.
Brian (representing Visit Saint Pete Clearwater) and Grimes said organizing partners include the City of Saint Petersburg, the University of South Florida (Saint Pete campus) and the Saint Pete Yacht Club. The ocean-racing organizer (the Ocean Race) manages the competitive event; local hosts handle the stopover programming and logistics.
The presenters said the Ocean Race stop will provide substantial earned and paid-media opportunities in the 12 months leading up to the event, particularly in Brazil and European markets identified in the race route. Grimes framed the visit as both a tourism and research opportunity, noting ties to marine science and sustainability programming at USF.
Board members asked logistical questions about docks and staging; presenters said the USF deep-water docks are planned as the primary basin for the stopover and that finer logistical details remain under discussion with Ocean Race organizers. The meeting included no formal vote related to the event; presenters said planning and funding conversations will continue and that the event will be considered for elite-event funding and marketing allocations in the coming budget year.
The council did not disclose a final economic-impact estimate but said it expects the stopover to generate multi‑million‑dollar economic benefits when accounting for visitor spending, media value and ancillary events. The Ocean Race announcement will be part of the destination's elite-event and marketing plans next year.
