Welcome to the LYRA website. LYRA is an organization of yacht clubs that was originally founded in 1884 and continues to this day. Each year LYRA members clubs vie to host the LYRA Annual Regatta and the LYRA Jr. Regatta.
This year the Buffalo Yacht Club will host the Annual Regatta.


2008 LYRA Boat of the Year Selection, by Bob Porter: "In 2008 sixty yachts competed in the Lake Yacht Racing Association's annual Regatta, course racing event, and thereby met the first qualification for Boat of the Year. Of those sixty, the following thirteen yachts competed in at least two other tier I events and met the second requirement to be considered for Boat of the Year honors: Gruntled, Manitou Express, Margaritaville, Mullet, Night Owl, Out of the Blue, Road Trip
Raison D' etre, Seajay, Seaweed, That Damn Thing, Windabago, and Zingara
Truly the standouts from this "short list" were Road Trip!, skippered by Cemeron Smith of the Whitby Yacht Club and competing in four Tier I events; Out of the Blue, skippered by John Doyle of the Rochester Yacht Club and competing in four Tier I events; Windabago, skippered by Steve Curr of the Whitby Yacht Club, and competing in four Tier I events; and finally, Mullet, skippered by Chris Warner/Chad Henry, of the Rochester Yacht Club and competing in six of the Tier I events.
Mullet, a Beneteau 40.7 from Rochester scored an overall victory in the Freeman Cup Long Distance Race and won her division (PHRF B) with four straight "bullets". Mullet also led her class at Youngstown Levels and won her division of the Lake Ontario 300 - finishing 2nd overall. Lake Yacht Racing Association is proud to present the LYRA 2008 Boat of the Year award to Chad Henry, Kris Werner and the crew of Mullet. Robert S. Porter, LYRA Executive Committee"
The 2010 LYRA Annual Regatta will be hosted by Buffalo YC, only the second time in 126 years that the event will be sailed on Lake Erie. Please stay tuned for details on this site and in the newsletter.
If you have been directed here from the LYRA survey we thank-you for your participation. If not please take our survey by signing up for the LYRA Newsletter at the left. You may sign up by entering your email, you will then receive the LYRA Newsletter. The newsletter will include links to the survey. If you no longer wish to get the newsletter you can unsubscribe.
LYRA AGM Report by Robert Elliott
Twenty-six delegates representing twelve yacht clubs attended the LYRA Annual General Meeting held at Buffalo Yacht Club on Saturday, November 7.
Genesee Yacht Club’s Robert Elliott was elected president. Elliott has been a LYRA vice president for the past four years. He is past commodore of GYC, and a US SAILING certified race officer.
In his remarks, following the election, Elliott stressed that LYRA belongs to the member clubs. He urged delegates to stay in touch with the Executive with their “ideas, wishes, and complaints. To make the association all it can be, we will need regular candid input from you.” He added, “I feel very fortunate to be stepping in here in the midst of the preparations for the annual regatta at Buffalo. I am really excited about their innovative plans. This is going to be an event you won’t want to miss.”
Other officers elected to the LYRA Executive Committee included:
- Patrick Lymburner, Port Credit Yacht Club, honorary president;
- Donald Finkle, Youngstown Yacht Club, vice president
- Guy Perrin, Port Credit Yacht Club, vice president
- David Steenbergen, Ashbridges Bay Yacht Club, vice president
- Mark Searle, Port Credit Yacht Club, vice president
- Susan Cassidy, Olcott Yacht Club, treasurer
- Robert Porter, Oswego Yacht Club, director and US Sailing Area E representative
Buffalo Yacht Club’s Ted Johnson and Tom Lewin presented BYC’s plans for the 2010 LYRA Annual Regatta. They explained that they are trying to develop a group passage through the Welland Canal including possibly a “Moveable feast from Port Weller to Port Colborne.” In any event, the Centennial Race will run from Port Colborne to Buffalo to include boats from Lake Ontario and the north shore of Lake Erie. The Founders Cup Race will go from Erie to Buffalo.
Delegates unanimously approved the 65-mile Freeman Cup Race course: Buffalo to Dunkirk to Mohawk Island to Buffalo (or reverse, depending on weather conditions).
Several other unique features are in development but not yet finalized. Stay tuned for details as they are confirmed.
Looking beyond 2010, the delegates unanimously approved the bid from Oswego Yacht Club to host the 2012 LYRA Annual Regatta. Delegates were also reminded that Port Credit Yacht Club will be hosting the 2011 Annual Regatta.
To take the BYC Survey without signing up for the newsletter click HERE