The Finger Lakes Boating Museum will launch its annual boat show July 24-25 at Geneva Lakefront Park.
The museum’s first show at its new home in Geneva will be part of the Cruisin’ Weekend activities. The theme is “Sailing in the Finger Lakes” and the show is free and open to the public.
Bill Oben, president of the Boating Museum, said the highlights of the show will include “fleets of boats coming in from across the country, the largest regatta of vintage one-design wooden boats in memory, rebirth of an historic Penn Yan Imperial inboard built during the Depression, Boating Museum-restored Lightning and Snipe sailboats, a Saturday night dinner gathering of show participants and the introduction of the future home of the Boating Museum in Geneva.”
The boating museum reached agreement with the City of Geneva last fall to establish a permanent home on the Geneva waterfront in association with the Visitor Center. The facility will be located on the current Geneva Chamber of Commerce site.
The boating museum will be displaying sailboats built by several noted Finger Lakes builders, including Brainard, Emmons, Morehouse, Penn Yan Boats, Inc., Skaneateles Boats, Inc., Thompson-Cortland and Murray Wright.
The 13th annual show also will include displays of other types of boats made in the Finger Lakes, including trout boats, canoes, row boats, and power boats as well as boating equipment. Displays will be from the Museum’s collection and from private owners.
The boat show also will offer classic wooden sailboat racing, workshops for youths and adults on various aspects of boat building such as wood bending and booths by area yacht clubs and collegiate sailing programs.
The Museum’s Ships Store will sell shirts, hats bearing the Museum’s logo and copies of the Museum’s publications.
Ed Wightman of Hammondsport, a member of the boating museum board, is the chairperson of the show. He can be reached by telephone at 607-868-3025 (H) and 607-794-3595 (Mobile) or by e-mail at edwightman@empacc.net. There is no cost to display a Finger Lakes-built boat and interested persons should contact Wightman.
Chrissy Bennett-West of Canandaigua, also a museum board member, is the coordinator of the sailing events. Contact her by telephone at 585-203-7102 or by e-mail at sailfastandtakechances@yahoo.com
The boating museum recently took part in the Wine Country Classic Boat Show in Hammondsport July 17-18.
The 300-member boating museum anticipates occupying approximately 18,000 square feet of space initially, with future expansion on the lakefront and off-site eventually growing to approximately 60,000 square feet of space.
