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The Manatee Derby

The Event Has Ended

The funkiest charity event in manatee history

Manatees and Funky Buddha Premium Hard Seltzer both rely on the same thing — clean, fresh, and delicious water. But right now, some of Florida's waters are so polluted that it's killing a record number of manatees already this year.

So on June 8th at 6 PM EST, in honor of World Oceans Day, we're hosting the first annual Manatee Derby. With celebrity guests (maybe), the sport's brightest stars, all the manatee racing traditions you love, and most importantly, a $30,000 donation to Save The Manatee Club for research and rescue. We're even matching viewers' donations up to $20,000*.

So click that donate button and send some love to these gentle stallions of the sea.

Donate Now

Do not attempt to ever ride or touch a manatee. It’s dumb. It’s illegal. And violators could face fines and/or prison time.

Help save Florida's funkiest marine mammals.

2021 has been one of Florida's manatees' deadliest years on record, caused much in part by polluted water that's killing the seagrasses they eat to survive. So we're raising funds to help clean up critical waterways where manatees live and provide safe areas for them to feed.

Donate now at our special Save the Manatee Club & Manatee Derby page and have your donation matched*.

Donate Now
Learn More

Meet Our Racers

Never before, in the storied history of competitive manatee racing has this much talent assembled in on place. Crafty veterans. Brash young upstarts. All come to compete on the biggest stage and raise money in manatee kind's greatest hour of need.

Chunky Boi
The sport's newest star has been busy off the track, dropping his debut album and opening a chain of organic juice bars
Carlos
One of the sport’s true innovators, Carlos is widely credited with introducing the “Fake That You're Sleeping But Then Actually Fall Asleep And Miss The Race” technique that has since been adopted by most racers
El Chorizo Loco
He’s built like a chorizo and he thinks like a champion. Is he loco? Oh, yes. So, so much yes
Lunch Box
Astronaut. DJ. Philanthropist. Champion. These are just some of the many, many words Lunchbox’s agent demanded we use to describe him
Seahorse
A six-time Manatee Racer of the Year, still hungry for victory. Or seagrass. Most likely seagrass. Victory too, just not as much as the seagrass
Mr. Wrinkly
A perennial contender, still looking for his first title. Do we know his first name? No. But we can all agree he looks like a Steven
Pancakes
You can’t talk about competitive manatee racing without talking about Pancakes. No seriously, you can’t. She won’t allow it
Puddles
She’s got more championship rings than she’s got fingers, which is very misleading, seeing how manatees don’t have fingers
Puddles II
No relation to Puddles. And in fact, they’re bitter rivals. No one knows how exactly the rivalry started, but we can only assume that stealing a rival’s name had something to do with it
Shopping Cart
A ferocious competitor who has repeatedly assured us that he will accept the outcome of the race and definitely not try to bite the winner’s tail
Sprinkles
A racer who’s famous for starting out fast, going slow, falling asleep, eating, swimming in circles, falling asleep again, doing nothing, and then finishing fast

Welcome To The Exciting World of Manatee Racing

Go deep inside this funky sporting tradition with famed manatee racing jockey Jellyfish Diaz.

*Funky Buddha Brewery will match all donations made from 6/8/21 – 6/30/21 to the Save The Manatee Club via the Manatee Derby Premiere Event link from consumers located in FL, GA, NC, TN, & VA up to an aggregate maximum of $20,000. Void where prohibited. To learn about how to donate, click the “donate now” button below. To learn more about Save the Manatee Club's mission visit savethemanatee.org.