Flying High In The Empire State

Unless next month’s Florida Powerboat Club poker run to Key West, Fla., attracts 214 boats—and with 180-plus vessels registered it just might—it will not be the largest organized go-fast boating event of the year. That’s because the eighth annual Oneida Lake Fall Chicken Wing Run last month in Central New York pulled in a 213-boat fleet in front of thousands of spectators.

With more than 200 boats in the fleet, the 2019 Oneida Lake Fall Chicken Wing Run in Central New York could end up being the biggest go-fast boating event of the year. Photos courtesy/copyright Ron Forbus/Speedonthewater.com.

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By any measure, that’s a remarkable achievement. That it happens after Labor Day in the Northeast makes it even more so.

“When we started in 2011, we had 11 boats,” said Ron Forbus, an Oneida Lake local who organizes the event with his wife, Jeanette, and a dozen other volunteers.

Check out the slideshow above to enjoy more images from the 2019 Oneida Lake Fall Chicken Wing Run.

Named for its primary lunch fare—this year the participants demolished 6,400 chicken wings—the event raises money for the Sylvan Beach Fire and Rescue Water Division. Though the final number hasn’t been released, Forbus said the group raised more $10,000 for the cause. Past events have enabled the organizers to donate foam sprayers for fireboats, FLIR radar and sonar systems and more.

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