The Hobie Cats Are Coming To Schroon
/
By Glen Repko
Schroon Lake Association
Everyone mark your calendars for the weekend of June 17 – 19, 2016 when Hobie Cat Fleet 204 from Oneida Lake Cicero, NY comes to the shores of Schroon Lake for the first of, hopefully, many Hobie Cat Sailing Regattas. The event will take place at the Town Boathouse and the sailors will take off from the beach next to the Boathouse.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with a Hobie Cat sailboat it is a lightweight, multi hull sailboat with the most brilliantly colored sails screaming across the waves of the lake. If you have ever seen a sailboat out in the water with bright, multicolored sails, then chances are it is a Hobie Cat.
Registration will begin at the Boathouse on Friday evening from 5pm – 8pm. In order to race you must be a member of the Hobie Racing Association and carry liability insurance in the amount of $100,000 which is a standard for racing vessels. You will be able to join the Racing Association when registering. Registration will continue Saturday morning at 8:30 am.
A Newbie racer class will be given at 9:30 AM and the boats will take to the beautiful waters of Schroon Lake at 10:30 am and will stay on the lake for as many races as can be completed. The course will run between the Boathouse beach and Word of Life Island. At 6 pm you can meet the skippers at Sticks and Stones Wood Fired Bistro and enjoy some food and beverage and listen to the sailors swap a whale of a racing tale.
What a vantage point to watch a sailboat race sitting in a folding chair or lounging on a blanket on the hillside overlooking the lake enjoying a picnic lunch. A modified schedule will be run on Sunday from 10 am - 1pm. The boats will return to shore, scores tallied, and trophies awarded.
If you are interested in quiet, wind driven boat racing, this is the event for you to attend. And while in town enjoy a walk around, sit on the beautiful sandy beach, take a dip in one of the top five lakes in New York State as determined by PBS, and just have a plain, old, good time in Schroon Lake, New York.
