2011 Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance – A Rare Opportunity To See Gar Woods Galore
The Lake Tahoe Concours d’ Elegance which is held annually at the Sierra Boat Company facility in Carnelian Bay, is certainly one of the premier wooden boat shows in the country. For 2011 the popular show has moved back to their traditional date in mid-August, and for those of you who have not had the opportunity to visit spectacular Lake Tahoe in August, it’s an experience you will never forget.
And it gets even better. The featured Marque Class at this year’s Lake Tahoe Concours is ‘Gar Wood – the Gentleman’s Runabout’. This has the potential to be one of the largest collections of original Gar Wood boats ever to be assembled in recent years, some even originally delivered to Lake Tahoe from the Gar Wood factory. As well, many of the other antique & classic Marques will be represented again this year, competing in their respective categories.
In 2011 Woody Boater will again be in Carnelian Bay covering the big show and will be providing live-ish daily updates on the action throughout the weekend.
Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation President Dave Olson said…
“After holding the show on Father’s Day weekend in 2009 and 2010, we are excited to now have an agreement with Sierra Boat Company that enables us to return to our traditional August dates. This gets us well past all the Father’s Day gatherings, and June graduations and weddings that have been conflicts for both our boat exhibitors and show attendees these past two years.”
The Lake Tahoe Concours d’ Elegance Wooden Boat Show, founded by members of the Tahoe Yacht Club in 1972 and hosted by the Club’s Foundation since 1994, is regarded nationally as the premier event for maritime enthusiasts. Heading into its 39th year, the Foundation has selected ‘Gar Wood ‐ the Gentleman’s Runabout’ as featured Marque Class. These luxurious and powerful “aristocrats of motorboats” were first introduced in 1922 by inventor, industrialist and record‐setting speedboat racer Garfield A. Wood and are a fan favorite. The Lake Tahoe Concours d’ Elegance showcases from 75 to 110 antique boats each year and draws more than 5,000 participants and visitors.
From a recent Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation Press Release…CARNELIAN BAY, CALIF.- On August 12 – 13, 2011, more than 75 classic antique boats will arrive at one of the world’s most renowned mountain lakes, bringing a sense of old world glory to Carnelian Bay, Calif., for the 39th annual Lake Tahoe Concours d’ Elegance Wooden Boat Show.
The event is a compilation of the best vintage boats from North America competing in 13 specialized classes for top honors and bragging rights in what is considered to be the premier judged wooden boat show in the nation. If you enjoy the art of restoration to “as delivered from the factory standards” and classic beauty on the water, then this is an event you’ll want to attend.
Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation hosts the annual boat show again at Sierra Boat Company in Carnelian Bay on Tahoe’s scenic north shore. This year’s event is also returning to its traditional dates in August when the weather is glorious, the water warmer and the atmosphere bustling with summer activities for the entire family to enjoy.
Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation was founded in 1994 from a group of Tahoe Yacht Club members as a Philanthropic organization. The purpose of the Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation is to host the annual Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance and Wooden Boat Week; and to raise charitable funds for donation to projects and non profit organizations in the Lake Tahoe Community that enhance expertise and understanding of maritime skills. Since 1994 the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance has become the premier wooden boat show in North America, and TYCF has raised and donated more than $200,000 to local groups and projects.
For more information on the 2011 Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance click here to check out their great new web site. The Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation is now accepting entries for the 2011 show and with the help of the event’s management firm, Liquid Blue Events, has launched the new website – www.LakeTahoeConcours.com – to provide online participant applications, show details and tickets sales, Wooden Boat Week activity schedule, and media room rich with event details and history.
The images for this story were provided courtesy of Steven Lapkin at
h2omark.com and the Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation.
So if you can, make plans to travel to beautiful Lake Tahoe in August, you won’t be disappointed. And when your there, look us up… we can do lunch… Woody Boater will supply the wieners.
Texx
Wow, no comments. You can here ice melting around here. Woody hats had comments all over the place. I guess you should have said come see the Garwoods and Woody Weiners. That would have gotten some notice.
Rick – I thought we would at least get some comments from our viewers around Lake Tahoe… Maybe they have all gone snow skiing for the weekend. I wonder if the wooden boat guys around Lake Tahoe still use those old vintage mahogany snow skis with the pinstripes?
I also heard a rumor that they were recently water skiing on Lake Tahoe but have no photos to prove it… Brrrr
Where is Lake Tahoe ?
I worked & lived at THE original Gar Wood dealer for Tahoe and that was Obexer’s at Homewood. I was very fortunate to be his senior mechanic and worked on V12 Scripps in the larger boats and also the baby’s on the property. There was approx a dozen of these incredible boats in the old Quanset huts back in 1978. There were very expensive original spare engines, drives, etc. for these boats as well as racing Ford marine flathead V8’s for ? I would bet that most of that stuff is still stashed around the property. I do not think that anybody but Herb and myself understood what this collection was about. It was an awesome experience.
The summer of 2011 in Lake Tahoe is shaping up to be an incredible one for wood boaters. This year the 17th Annual Gathering of the GarWoods (the worlds only boat show dedicated exclusively to showcasing GarWood boats) will be held at Obexers and will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Obexers Marina (and the love of Jake Obexer for GarWood boats!) The celebrations may span several days and include the Gathering, the ACBS, the Tahoe Maritime Museum and the Tahoe Yacht Club all contributing to one amazing wood boat week.