Welcome to the Web Site of the Cayuga Lake Cruising Fleet!

We are a group of people who love to sail and who have been organizing cruising and racing events for a long time. We have some sailing event going on almost every Sunday from early May to the middle of October.

Whether you have a boat or not, we invite you to join us. If you have a keelboat, you may consider sailing in our events. If you have a small boat or no boat at all, you may consider sailing as guest or crew with one of our skippers: There are always a couple of boats who are short-handed. All you have to do is to come to the South Pavilion of the Ithaca Yacht Club on Sundays (time t.b.d.) and ask one of the skippers to direct you to the Fleet Captain, and you will be sure to be cordially invited to join that day's sailing event.

Those events are of three kinds: In the Spring and Fall there are two series of around the buoys races. Those are open only to skippers who are Cruising Fleet members. However, all of our summer events are open to non-members.

The main events in the summer are the six Latitude Races in which boats don't race around buoys but sail to individual latitudes and back, the latitudes being determined by each boat's performance handicap. This means that slower boats sail shorter distances and faster boats sail longer distances, so that everybody will finish at approximately the same time. These Latitude Races are ideal opportunities for cruising skippers to get some no-pressure racing experience.

In addition there will be several fun events in the summer which are also open to non-members. They include the cruises to the raft-up parties at Taughannock and Sheldrake, and the big 20-mile cruise to the annual dinner that the Red Jacket Yacht Club always organizes in our honor. Another fun event is a water balloon battle and sailathon back and forth between the Yacht Club and the East Shore.

For additional information about the Cruising Fleet, check out the "Frequently Asked Questions" and for the schedule of events check out the "Cruising Fleet Calendar" on this web site.

If you are interested in joining us, call the Fleet Captain, Tim Bonniwell (607 319-0288) or just come to the Yacht Club for one of our events.