Fourth Annual Chautauqua Lake Championship Regatta Is Saturday
By PATRICK L. FANELLI
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7/20/2007 - BEMUS POINT — With the fourth annual Chautauqua Lake Championship Regatta set to take place Saturday, event organizers are optimistically eyeballing the weather forecast and hoping for a strong breeze in Bemus Bay this weekend.
''Right now, the latest forecast was that Saturday is supposed to be a beautiful day,'' said Steve Schiavone, Sam's Club business development director and event co-chairman. ''Of course, it's three days out so we don't know what the wind is going to (do). That's the most important ingredient.''
Al Nottage, who founded the event four years ago as a member of the Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club in Lakewood, expects the wind to be just as strong in Bemus Bay as it is in the south basin of the lake between Lakewood and Ellery, where the event has been held the past three years.
''We're looking at an absolutely gorgeous day,'' Nottage said, adding the wind usually comes down the lake and sweeps into Bemus Bay from the north. ''It should be excellent.''
As the annual sailboat race nears, Nottage and Schiavone have been happy with the response, both from sailboat captains and from local businesses who have donated to the event's silent auction, which will take place all day Saturday.
''We're hoping to have a couple dozen boats. Last year, we had about 15 ... so we're hoping to get near double that,'' Schiavone said. ''We're hoping to have lots of participants. We're going to have wonderful prize drawings, which are donations from plenty of area merchants. I'm super pleased about that.''
This year's race could prove to be more of a spectator's event than it was in previous years since Ron Mavity of the Chautauqua Lake Power Boat Club will be on hand with others from the club, and they will be holding water skiing demonstrations, according to Schiavone.
''There is a lot going on,'' Schiavone said. ''We're trying to give folks an appreciation for water sports, whether it's sailing or motorboating.''
For sailboat captains, a meeting will take place at 8 a.m., and the harbor gun, which signifies one hour to go before the race begins, is tentatively scheduled to go off at 9 a.m. But it all depends on the conditions, according to Schiavone.
''We post a schedule. We post a course. All that is finalized prior,'' he said. ''But it's a function of Mother Nature.''
If all goes according to plan, the first race will take place at 10 a.m. and another race will take place after that. Schiavone and Nottage are also hoping to hold two or three additional races in the afternoon.
When the races are finished, the party will move to the Village Casino, where the auction results and race results will be announced at 10 p.m.
Judges will employ the handicaps set out by the Portsmouth ratings established by U.S. Sailing, the sport's governing body, when having to judge sailboats of different classes.
There will likely be two classes, according to Schiavone — just one-designs and cruisers since many local E-Scow sailors will be participating in a race on Keuka Lake near Hammondsport during the weekend, and E-Scows typically make up the third class.
The silent auction will take place next to the Italian Fisherman, which will serve as event headquarters, and in the park nearby.
When Nottage, a resident of Lakewood, founded the regatta three years ago, he was motivated partly out of his love for sailing and partly out of his desire to help the American Cancer Society, and he hopes for a strong showing Saturday both from captains and spectators.
''It's a fun thing. It's not a cutthroat race. Anybody who wants to come in with a sailboat last minute are more than welcome,'' Nottage said. ''This is for fun, and for profit for the Cancer Society — and it all stays in the county.''
''Right now, the latest forecast was that Saturday is supposed to be a beautiful day,'' said Steve Schiavone, Sam's Club business development director and event co-chairman. ''Of course, it's three days out so we don't know what the wind is going to (do). That's the most important ingredient.''
Al Nottage, who founded the event four years ago as a member of the Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club in Lakewood, expects the wind to be just as strong in Bemus Bay as it is in the south basin of the lake between Lakewood and Ellery, where the event has been held the past three years.
''We're looking at an absolutely gorgeous day,'' Nottage said, adding the wind usually comes down the lake and sweeps into Bemus Bay from the north. ''It should be excellent.''
As the annual sailboat race nears, Nottage and Schiavone have been happy with the response, both from sailboat captains and from local businesses who have donated to the event's silent auction, which will take place all day Saturday.
''We're hoping to have a couple dozen boats. Last year, we had about 15 ... so we're hoping to get near double that,'' Schiavone said. ''We're hoping to have lots of participants. We're going to have wonderful prize drawings, which are donations from plenty of area merchants. I'm super pleased about that.''
This year's race could prove to be more of a spectator's event than it was in previous years since Ron Mavity of the Chautauqua Lake Power Boat Club will be on hand with others from the club, and they will be holding water skiing demonstrations, according to Schiavone.
''There is a lot going on,'' Schiavone said. ''We're trying to give folks an appreciation for water sports, whether it's sailing or motorboating.''
For sailboat captains, a meeting will take place at 8 a.m., and the harbor gun, which signifies one hour to go before the race begins, is tentatively scheduled to go off at 9 a.m. But it all depends on the conditions, according to Schiavone.
''We post a schedule. We post a course. All that is finalized prior,'' he said. ''But it's a function of Mother Nature.''
If all goes according to plan, the first race will take place at 10 a.m. and another race will take place after that. Schiavone and Nottage are also hoping to hold two or three additional races in the afternoon.
When the races are finished, the party will move to the Village Casino, where the auction results and race results will be announced at 10 p.m.
Judges will employ the handicaps set out by the Portsmouth ratings established by U.S. Sailing, the sport's governing body, when having to judge sailboats of different classes.
There will likely be two classes, according to Schiavone — just one-designs and cruisers since many local E-Scow sailors will be participating in a race on Keuka Lake near Hammondsport during the weekend, and E-Scows typically make up the third class.
The silent auction will take place next to the Italian Fisherman, which will serve as event headquarters, and in the park nearby.
When Nottage, a resident of Lakewood, founded the regatta three years ago, he was motivated partly out of his love for sailing and partly out of his desire to help the American Cancer Society, and he hopes for a strong showing Saturday both from captains and spectators.
''It's a fun thing. It's not a cutthroat race. Anybody who wants to come in with a sailboat last minute are more than welcome,'' Nottage said. ''This is for fun, and for profit for the Cancer Society — and it all stays in the county.''
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