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The 61-foot-high "World's Largest Rubber Duck," shown here at a tall ships festival in Los Angeles, will come to Syracuse July 16 as part of the first Onondaga Cup & Lakefest.

(Soecial to Syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. -- The self-styled "World's Largest Rubber Duck" will float on Onondaga Lake this summer as part of the first Onondaga Cup & LakeFest.



The duck weighs 11 tons and is 61 feet high when inflated. It has appeared in water festivals from Los Angeles to Long Island.

The July 16 regatta is co-sponsored by Syracuse Media Group and the Syracuse CHARGERS rowing club. The duck's appearance is sponsored by Tarson Pools and Spas.

The duck is the brainchild of Craig Samborski, who is the executive producer of Tall Ships Duluth in his native Minnesota. He told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune he came up with the idea to promote a similar event in Los Angeles.

"I knew it was going to be either really smart or really dumb, and thank goodness it worked out to be really smart," Samborski said.

The Duluth tall ships web page notes that the duck is "is not available to ride."

Can't wait until July to see the duck? You can follow its public figure Facebook page.

The daylong regatta will be at Willow Bay and feature 24 corporate sponsored rowing teams and 50 independent kayakers and paddleboarders. The final races will be run at night, under lights.

"The rebirth of Onondaga Lake is one of the great stories in Central New York," said Tim Kennedy, Syracuse Media Group president, in a statement. "This regatta will be a summer tradition that we will promote across Upstate New York."

Onondaga Lake, once considered among America's most polluted, has undergone a cleanup that has cost Onondaga County and Honeywell more than $1 billion combined.

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