Lake Keepit Sailing Club has described as "cruel" its shelving of the longstanding annual Keep It Cool Regatta due to the epidemic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The cancellation of the 52nd installment of the June long weekend event comes at a time when there is sufficient water in the lake to cater for all but the heaviest boats, said Ian Pine, the club's vice commodore.
Last year's regatta was moved to the Copeton Dam after the Keepit Dam's water level dropped to less than 1 per cent throughout 2019.
Read also:
"It's cruel, isn't it," he said.
"We've had no water from the end of November in 2018, all the way through [20]19, and we had to wait until we got into February [20]20 before we started to see any useful water ... now we've got sufficient water and the virus as robbed us this time."
Pine said that "some of our sailing family are into their third generation" of attending the event - "and it's a fairly big thing to miss out" on.
"But we've just had to go with the flow and accept it," he said.
He added: "It's probably the one and only major inland regatta in, at least, NSW, and probably Australia. And, as I said, we've got people who come back year after year."
