ROGERSVILLE – With the sun glistening off the water at Wheeler lake, a cool breeze blows across the river. It sounds like a typical day on the water, but it’s actually the perfect time of the year for sailing.

Every fall, the best sailors from the five sailing clubs in the Tennessee Valley meet up at the Wheeler Sailing Club in Joe Wheeler State Park and take advantage of Rogersville’s perfect sailing conditions by competing in the Tennessee Valley Cup.

“Wheeler lake is one of the best spots for sailing,” said Rocky Gonzalez, a Decatur resident and member of the Wheeler Sailing Club in Rogersville. “They used to have this race at each sailing club, but last year they decided to have it here every year because of our convenient location and good conditions.”

Saturday, around 50 sailboats were attempting to maneuver the waters of Wheeler Lake for the 19th Tennessee Valley Cup.

“There are some of the best sailors around competing here,” Gonzalez said. “It’s very competitive and hard to win.”

Each of the five sailing clubs – Pickwick, Tenn. Muscle Shoals (Killen), Wheeler (Rogersville), Browns Creek (Guntersville) and Pioneer (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – select members to compete in the TVC. The race is divided into three different classes – dinghy, non-spinnaker and spinnaker – and each club is rewarded points by the finishes of its members.

The winning club gets to keep the Tennessee Valley Cup for one year, but then must return the trophy and defend it the next year.

“There’s a lot of history behind this race,” said Yvonne Craig of Chattanooga, who was on the water to watch her daughter Kathleen Craig – a UAH student – race.

Craig said the Muscle Shoals Sailing Club is helping some UAH students start a sailing club of their own.

The captains competing the race must navigate a six-mile course that begins at Joe Wheeler State Park and heads west. The sailors make several turns at marked buoys and finish back at Joe Wheeler. The TVC race committee regulates the competition.

“We’re here to make sure the race is easy to lose,” race committee member Pete Stump said jokingly. “These guys get really competitive out here, so we have to make sure everything stays fair.”

Gonzalez is one of many members of the sailing clubs who would like to be competing in the race, but he said some years you have to serve on committees. Athens resident Frank McCollum is a member of the Muscle Shoals Sailing Club, but is serving on the food committee for this year’s TVC.

The final race of the TVC will be run today at 9 a.m.