COMMODORE MACDONOUGH RACE
• JIB & MAIN DIVISION - CLASS A •

First in Class on Corrected Time — Shorter Course
There is only one trophy given in this race, for first overall on corrected time – long course.

In 1968 John A. Williams, then Commodore of LCYC, in conjunction with the Lake Champlain Racing Conference, organized a 73.6 nm race to commemorate the victory of an American fleet commanded by Commodore Thomas Macdonough over a British fleet on September 11, 1814 at Plattsburgh Bay. The original race course, still used for Classes A & B, consisted of only two marks, the HBN at Point au Roche to the north and Diamond Island to the south. In the late 1970s a shorter course was created for other classes.

In 1971, John Williams conceived a unique trophy to be awarded annually to the winner of this race on corrected time. The trophy consists of a section of the actual rib of the USS Saratoga, Commodore Macdonough's flagship in the battle, and an American 12 pound cannon ball retrieved from the lake bed in Plattsburgh Bay. These two most appropriate object are securely fastened to a modern wooden base resulting in a trophy that combines abstract beauty and historical symbolism appreciated by Lake Champlain sailors.

[The above text, slightly modified to reflect the current courses, was first published in the 1972 LCYC Log.]

The currently-known best elapsed time of 11:08:12 for the 73.6 nm course was set in 1999 by Frankly Scarlett, a Soverel 33 skippered by Dave Powlison and John Harris. Present club records go back only to 1996.

Unfortunately, there are no known records of results from before 1996.