Hearty Sailors, Appetites Win

About 175 people attended the Beaver Lake Sailing Club’s 9th Annual NEBCO Regatta on Sept. 16 at the club’s private marina in Garfield. The annual sailboat race and feast benefits the Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire Department.

BLSC has about 100 members and boasts a fleet of sailboats that range from speedy J/Boats to upscale cruisers that can cost more than $200,000 each.

David Vanselow, last year’s BLSC Regatta chairman and a NEBCO boat pilot, said 85 to 90 skippers and crewmen competed on 22 boats over the four-mile triangular course. The elapsed time for two fleet races was about 90 minutes each.

The real winner again, however, was NEBCO. For the second consecutive year, more than $4,000 was raised to help the department with the maintenance and operation of its fireboats on Beaver Lake.

“The NEBCO Volunteer Fire Department protects lives and property in an 84-square-mile area of northeast Benton County, which includes much of the northern part of Beaver Lake,” Vanselow said.

Local musicians “Stark and Green” (Larry Stark and sailor Michael Green) entertained the post-race crowd.

Steven Holland, BLSC’s chef, took two 300-pound whole hogs, stuffed them with chicken and roasted them for 22 straight hours to serve as the event’s main course.

The rest of his menu included: homemade potato salad, German coleslaw and homemade blackberry and peach cobblers. For the vegetarians, Holland prepared grilled eggplant and tomatoes with sheep’s milk Gorgonzola and wild rice.

Holland, a sailor and co-owner of The Harrison Tool Room Inc., said the event has yet to run out of food except for maybe the cobbler.

Click here (PDF) to see a chart of race results.