CHARLOTTE — Many of the top sailors and fastest boats on Lake Champlain will be taking part Aug. 22 in the 2015 Diamond Island Regatta, hosted by the Royal Savage Yacht Club (RSYC) and Point Bay Marina in Charlotte.
Again this year, proceeds from the event will benefit the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Ferrisburgh. Regatta entry will be free, with money raised through the sale of “swag bags” to sailors and racing fans, including donated items from local businesses.
RSYC’s third annual Diamond Island Regatta is part of the Lake Champlain Championship Series (LCCS), a summer-long series of races featuring boats from clubs along the Vermont and New York shores. The regatta results will count toward both the LCCS Cannon Series and the Champlain Series. Details and registration info for the regatta can be found at the website, http://rsyc.org/diamond-island-regatta/. Learn more about the LCCS at www.lcchampionshipseries.org/.
Racers are invited to a breakfast (also free) the day of the race at the RSYC tent at Point Bay Marina. Breakfast starts at 8:30 a.m., with registration from 8:30-9:30 and a skippers’ meeting at 9:30. The race gets under way at 11. The awards ceremony will take place at the annual RSYC Lobster Fest, also under the tent, at 6 p.m. Visiting sailors are invited to join the evening festivities — at RSYC member prices of $25 per person — for a whole lobster, steamers, corn and all the fixings. To reserve a place for Lobster Fest, sign up by Aug. 18 at the RSYC website: rsyc.org/shop.
The event will include separate classes for boats flying spinnakers and those using just mainsail and jib, but all boats will sail the same course, chosen from among several options on the day of the race based on the wind direction and speed. The courses, all starting in Town Farm Bay, which sits between Charlotte and Ferrisburgh, range in length from 6.6 to 13.8 nautical miles, and can run from Charlotte and Essex, N.Y., in the north to Basin Harbor in the south.