On the weekend of June 17 and 18, the waters of Cazenovia Lake were filled with 28 Lightning Class sailboats competing in the Central New York Championship Regatta. Top finishers qualified for the North American Championship in September.
Strong winds gusted over 20 miles per hour. Colorful spinnakers filled the downwind race legs. Several capsizes made for interesting viewing. Except for some broken boat parts, however, all were safe.
Among the top finishing boats were several teams from Rochester. Teams also travelled from other ports on Lake Ontario, Skaneateles, Ithaca, Lake Erie and Long Island Sound.
This regatta also marked the 70th anniversary of the Cazenovia Lightning Fleet. It so happened that Peter Murphy, the great-grandson of one of the fleet founders, crewed on the highest finishing Cazenovia boat.
