(Youngstown, NY)- 181 boats raced on five circles in the 40th and Final
Youngstown Level Regatta on the weekend of July 27-28. For most of its
history the Level has been the largest weekend keelboat regatta on Lake
Ontario, at one time hitting a monstrous 466 boats! Those were the
days of 50 boat J/24 fleets and one design starts for most of the J
designs popular at the time. Since then things had settled down to a
more manageable size but the Level still held a prominent place on the
calendar for most racers within hundreds of miles. Youngstown Yacht
Club finally decided 40 years was enough and the organizers and
volunteers deserved a break, so this was the last Level, to be replaced
next year with a new event with details to be announced this fall.Sailors did not want to miss out on the fun of the final event so attendance was up by almost 40 boats over 2012. Conditions were generally favorable, light to moderate with the exception of a brief squall that came in Saturday afternoon that curtailed racing for the day. In IRC 0 Bob Hesse and crew aboard the J111 Lake Effect lost the tie-breaker for first place, settling for second as they had done in Key West in January. They have been dominating local PHRF racing this summer.
The regatta was judged to be a terrific success with many fond memories being shared and praise was lavished on the volunteers for their years of hard work. Everyone wants to know what YYC has our our sleeve for 2014 but we aren't quite ready to announce the sequel just yet. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes @ TimWilkes.com. For more Youngstown Level Regatta sailing information
