Regatta canceled

CELINA - The 2012 Celina Governor's Cup Regatta has been canceled.

Organization spokesman Allen Baskett this morning said officials struggled with securing sponsorship, but he attributed the cancellation solely to the low water level in Grand Lake.

The event was to be held Aug. 25 and 26 off Lake Shore Drive.

Regatta co-chairmen Myron Buxton and Scott Anderson did not return calls to the newspaper by press time today. Buxton, a Celina city councilman, did not address the scrapped race during a council meeting Monday night.

"After meeting with representatives of the American Powerboat Racing Association, the sanctioning body for the Inboard Hydroplane Series, it was determined that the depth of the waters in and around the race course area would not be ideal to race safely," a press release on the race's Facebook page says. "Committee members discussed the situation on Saturday with Region 6 race officials, several racers and other race teams before making their decision to cancel the event."

The lake is open for recreational boating. Park officials said the water level was 12 1/2 inches below normal pool on Monday.

"We could not, in good conscience, conduct our race in waters that have the potential to leave a racer trapped in his boat with no way out if it were to flip, land upside down and need deeper water to accommodate their capsule," according to the release.

Last summer Celina hosted the 2011 APBA Inboard Hydroplane World Championship, which drew thousands of spectators and 53 boats competing in various classes. The race was canceled in 2010 because of toxic blue-green algae blooms in the lake.

"Unfortunately, the drought, which has affected so many communities in our area and throughout the Midwest, presented the committee with a greater obstacle than the financial challenge and forced the cancellation," the release states. "The committee is looking forward to bringing hydroplanes back to Celina in 2013."