LAKE CASITAS : Drought Brings Regatta Contest

The drought has brought an unexpected windfall to Lake Casitas with the sudden shift of the 1990 Collegiate Sailing Regatta from Lake Lopez.

The colorful competition, which will involve 200 participants, will be held Nov. 10 and 11 at Lake Casitas because the water level is too low at the smaller lake in San Luis Obispo County. It will be the first regatta and one of the largest events held on the lake west of Ojai since the rowing and canoeing competitions of the 1984 Olympics.

Twenty sailing teams from colleges across the country, including Princeton, Harvard, Yale and others in Hawaii and Washington, will camp out at the lake and compete in about 70 boats during the two-day event.

“Every school that sails on the West Coast has been invited, and the Ivy League schools back East are planning to come,” said Judith Dale, club sports director for the UC Santa Barbara.

The 50-member UCSB sailing team decided to host the regatta after Cal Poly’s team dropped efforts to find an alternative site and was about to cancel the event, Dale said.

Casitas operations manager Richard Hajas said the regatta usually attracts a large number of spectators, which should greatly increase the gate and concession receipts during a normally low attendance period at the lake.