PLATTSBURGH – “I love sailing but never really raced before so I gathered up some friends who are relatively novice sailors themselves,” said Cameron Giezendanner. “Interestingly enough we fared fairly well.”

Giezendanner has only raced sailboats for a few years, but ever since he started, he fell in love with the sport. “We’re all pretty fond of it. The weather’s been magnificent lately so it’s just great to get outside,” he said.

The boat captain and his crew took part in the annual Mayor’s Cup Regatta on Lake Champlain on Saturday. It was his second time competing at this particular event. “Last year we went over there and the field was much smaller because the borders were closed still… [There were] many more boats, and it was great to see the weather cooperated better. There was a lot more wind this year than last year.”

There were 48 boats in total, but each race was split into different divisions and boats were given handicaps depending on their size and speed. Giezendanner’s boat won its division race, but not until the handicap was taken into account.

“We actually finished 19 seconds behind the boat [in front of us], but because of their rating we were awarded probably nearly two minutes of time,” he said.

Overall, his boat only finished 13 seconds behind the boat that won it all, but that may only be because Giezendanner didn’t know the racecourse as well as he should have. “We had to make an adjustment in our course which probably cost us that 13 seconds maybe but nevertheless we’re pleased with the result because of the overall series standings.”

Because he finished first in the boat class, he won an etched glass trophy, customary for sailboat races. But this one will have a special meaning for Giezendanner. “I guess you would say that’s my first hardware in sailboat racing,” he said.