LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Forty boats are expected to set sail Saturday in the 30th annual Konocti Cup on Clear Lake.
And, said race spokesman Pat Brown, that’s surprising because the lake is supposed to be a little shallow this year.
The Konocti Bay Sailing Club is hosting the event, which will be headquartered out of Braito's Buckingham Harbor.
The Cup, which is organized into three different classes of boats, will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the Full Cup race, limited to monohull boats of 19 feet.
Tom Burden from Santa Cruz will be on Clear Lake to defend his 2013 Konocti Cup title in his Ultimate 20 “Layla,” Brown said.
The Bilafer family, which holds the 26-mile course record, Brown added, will not be competing because of low water.
In some places in the southern part of the lake where the race course is located, the draw is reported to be only 8 feet, Brown said.
Following the Full Cup race will be the Half Cup, also restricted to monohull craft, at a distance of 13 miles, according to Brown.
The third launch will be for multihull boats, with Bill Erkelens – who won last year’s multihull Cup in his Master Tornado “Go Nan Go” – set to compete.
An 8:30 a.m. skippers meeting will precede the Cup and a Sunday awards event at Braito’s Buckingham Marine will follow the race on Sunday.
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