Catch an Idem Race
Idem sailing sloops from 1890s race across Upper St. Regis Lake
The Idem sloop is a sailing boat designed in 1899 for the specific purpose of racing on the Upper St. Regis Lake. The ultra-wealthy of the 1890s with homes along this lake wanted to race, and of course one of these guys contracted a boat designer to build a fit-for-purpose sailing boat for precisely the type of winds and size lake. Others around the lake ordered the same sloop, and soon there were 12 Idems on Upper St. Regis.
Many of these boats have been carefully maintained over the course of the last 100+ years and kept up for racing on the lake. Some are owned by descendants of the original families. Needless to say, it’s still predominantly the ultra wealthy who have homes around this lake. Of course, there are at least a couple new Idem reproductions, but for the most part it’s 100+ year old boats out there. In the summertime, they race roughly between Memorial Day and Labor Day, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It’s a sight! However, races depend on how many of the boat owners and their crew are in town on a given day, the weather conditions and if there’s enough wind to race. So there isn’t any guarantee you’ll get to watch a race.
This summer, on a Saturday in August, we decided to paddle out of the Upper St. Regis put-in, which is about 35 minutes from Lake Placid. We traversed three canoe carries hitting Bog Pond, Bear Pond and had lunch at an available campsite on Little Long Pond. I was actually surprised how few people there were considering it was a prime summer weekend with blue skies. I think we saw more loons than people! We had a great paddle with mostly short carries. It’s actually the last three carries of the popular Seven Carries route, but by stopping half-way at Little Long Pond and returning back to Upper St. Regis, we made it into an easy afternoon round-trip.
On our return, after carrying our canoes from Bog Pond we reached the shore of Upper St. Regis Lake right about 3:30 p.m. and had a spectacular view of the Idem race with about six sloops participating. From our vantage point, we watched the sailing boats speed toward Birch Island and turn around for the race back to the finish line. One was way far out in the lead, but the others seemed neck and neck.
If you decide to take this little round-trip paddle or any of the other routes in and out of Upper St. Regis Lake, plan it for a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday, and hope you luck into a Idem race. Even if you miss the race, it’s a beautiful paddle.
