The return of the 'No Octane Regatta' in Blue Mountain Lake
- Amy Feiereisel
- Jul 7
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 17
By AMY FEIEREISEL (Community Engagement Reporter), in Blue Mountain Lake, NY
Published NCPR
In this modern age of kevlar and carbon fiber, wooden boats are a bit of a rarity.
But if you know where to look, you can find them in the North Country. They're at competitions like the '90 miler' and the Willard Hanmer races, or at shows like the Antique Boat Show in Clayton and the Guideboat Show in Saranac Lake.
Two weekends ago, wooden boat lovers congregated in Blue Mountain Lake for the revival of the ‘No Octane Regatta,’ a beloved day of wooden boat races that originally ran from 1991 to 2006.
The original 'No Octane Regatta'
The first No Octane Regatta was organized in 1991, to celebrate the updated boat exhibit at the Adirondack Museum (now the Adirondack Experience: The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake).
At that time, Long Lake resident Hallie Bond was the museum's boat curator, and she was inspired by historical boating events.
"I thought, wouldn't it be fun to have a regatta that took its inspiration from the early American Canoe Association regattas?" she explained, "[especially as] The American Canoe Association started in 1880 on Lake George. And they used to do all sorts of funny things and funny races."
The first event was such a hit that the museum continued to sponsor the race until 2006.
The revival in 2025
Almost two decades later, the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts decided to pick up the event and bring it back for its grand opening in its new location, what used to be the Potters Resort, right on the waterfront of Blue Mountain Lake.
The day of the regatta, ALCA's new sandy beach was covered with about 30 wooden boats, and twice as many people. It was a small gathering filled with a lot of spirit.
On display was everything from the classic Adirondack guideboats, to a more recent variation, the 'Goodboat', wooden prams, wood canvas canoes, and even a Rushton 'Pleasure Rowboat.'
Completing the setting was a tiny cannon, which marked the start of each of the day's races.
"You know, it's actually a regulation starting cannon, a regatta starting cannon," laughed Bond. "There are such things."
It helped mark races like the 'Hurry Scurry' and the 'Dump Race,' a canoe sprint where the participants have to tip themselves and their boats into the water halfway through, when the cannon goes off again.
70-year-old Pat Brown was the official winner of that race. Brown is well-known guideboat builder who works on Upper Chase Lake near Lowville. He vividly remembers the first time he rowed a guideboat.
"I got an opportunity with an old man that used to take me fishing," said Brown. "He had an original guideboat that was built around 1906. And I'd always ever rode just real clunky boats before, heavy ones. I'd never rode in a nice boat before. And after about five pulls on the oars, it was like, ‘this is magical.’ And I got hooked."
Sharing knowledge and experiences
Brown wants to help other people have that magical 'aha' moment about guideboats and wooden boats in general, and urged other people to try his boat throughout the day.
Sharing is a big part of this event; sharing stories, sharing notes on different boats, sharing a love for craftsmanship.
This was Tim Sampsel's first No Octane Regatta. He carried a slim notebook to jot down ideas and contact information. Sampsel lives in Colorado but comes to the Adirondacks for a few weeks each summer.
He spent much of the day checking out the different guideboats and talking to their owners. "It's very inspirational. I'm inspired to build one," he said, smiling. "I want to get at it!"
Sherry Nemmers grew up in Blue Mountain Lake and feels a deep connection to wooden boats. "Just the sheer joy and beauty of them. They are gorgeous to look at. They move so gracefully through the water, most of the time. What's not to love about a wooden boat?"
Nemmers said the revival of the regatta is a "throwback" to some of the best times of her life.
Ian Hay was another ‘old timer’ who’s not so old; his family came up for the original regattas starting before he was born.
"There's really not anything else like it," said Hay. "There's big boat regattas and boat shows where people put them out on the lawn, but the opportunity to, like, get out in boats, try other people's boats, take notes..." That's unique, he said. "There's an unfortunate stuffiness in boating and this is not about that."
Messing about in boats
Hay competed in most of the races of the day, and when I spoke with him, he was prepping for the last race of the day, a sailing race. He was in the process of rigging his rowboat into a sailboat.
"It's got a single mast, single sail, and it's really a much better rowboat than it is a sailboat," he laughed. "It's been sort of in an experimental stage all of its life. So you're going to have to bear with me."
As he slotted the mast into a hole and started rigging the sails, the five minute warning came.
"The real race is going to be seeing if I can get this rigged in time to actually participate!" said Hay.
While he worked away, I hopped aboard Pontiki, a large pontoon boat serving as the day's safety boat. Tom Warrington, longtime resident of Blue Mountain Lake, is the captain. "I've been messing around in boats for, oh, decades," he said.
Warrington was setting up the starting line for the sailing race.
"Which is a little more involved than the paddling and rowing races, because the starting line should be perpendicular to the wind direction," he explained, as we chugged out towards the nearest buoy on the lake. "We’re going to set up a line this way. We’ll be one end of the starting line, and the buoy will be the other end."
From one end of the starting line, we watched four boats (Hay's rowboat and three sleek sailing canoes) head out onto the water. Hay came in last, but definitely got style points.
