LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (NEWS10) – All eyes on the water. Classic boat season is coming to Lake George this month, first to Bolton Landing, and then to the village itself.
The Antique & Classic Wooden Boat Show comes to Lake George Friday-Saturday, Aug. 26-27. More than 50 classic and antique boat models are expected on the water. Featured boats on display will include a late-1890s Elco Electric Launch.
On Friday, the boats will gather at the docks of Rogers Memorial Park in Bolton Landing from 9 a.m. to noon, with a land-only preview of trailered boats from 3-5 p.m. On Saturday, the boats make their second stop at the Lake George Village docks, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
2022 is a special year for the annual celebration of classic watercraft. It has been 100 years since the founding of Chirs-Craft Boats in Algonac, Michigan. The company has a centennial legacy of working with local companies GarWood and Hacker-Craft to bring factory-built wooden boat craft to new heights.
Another centennial at this year’s show revolves around a specific boat. A full replica of El Lagarto, built by Queensbury-based Fish Brothers Custom Boats, will be on the water. The original El Lagarto was built by Hacker-Craft in 1922 as a racing boat. The original model won gold cups in national races on Lake George in the 1920s and ’30s. It was later restored by Tumblehome Boatshop in Warrensburg, and currently rests at the Adirondack Experience museum in Blue Mountain Lake.
The festival features free rides for kids. Children’s rides around the Lake George waterfront will be available on the “Adironduck,” a 1950s vintage wooden kit-boat replica. More boats will be trailered alongside land displays and vendors along the village shoreline. Sports cars and Model-T Ford cars will be parked along Beach Road, brought by the Triumph Sports Car Club and Model-T Ford Club.