"It was really a family friendly event," said Bill Jasper, president of State Dock. "-around the band everyone was just gathered together, floating in the water. It looked like a Jimmy Buffett concert."

Jasper said the world record attempt for the largest raft-up was a resounding success not just because a record number of people tied their boats together for a specified amount of time, but also because of the camaraderie, that typifies events on Lake Cumberland.

He added that if anyone manages to top their count it won't take long for the Lake Cumberland Navy to rise to the challenge.

 "We stopped counting at 2,500, there were 1,800 boats registered," Jasper said. "If we have to break the record again we'll have a huge turnout."

He explained that there had been concerns amongst some boaters that there would be issues with it being a "party," and too much wake to tie up safely, but Jasper said all those worries were proven baseless.

According to Mike Janela, the official judge from the Guinness World Record group a certificate has been presented to officials with the Lake Cumberland Association

The group certified through a count by air and by water, that 1,651 boats were officially tied together last Saturday.

The previous record was 1,454 boats, set in North Carolina in 2004.

Guidelines for the record category stipulate that all participating boats must be connected together in a single line for at least one minute and have at least one person on board during this minute. Janela said the boaters were able to hold the tie-up for "quite a while."

All of the marinas on the lake participated in and promoted the event, under the auspices of the Lake Cumberland Association.

"We want this to become the annual signature event for the Lake Cumberland area. Each marina has its own sense of community and the Association's goal is for everyone to come together to experience the pride and camaraderie of the entire lake region, and encourage participants to experience as many marinas as possible during 'Raft Up' weekend," explains JD Hamilton, organized the event and President of LCA.

News of the event reached television stations across the area and went out over the Internet as the record was established.

But this is far from the end of the excitement on Lake Cumberland, as weekend after this, there is a very large houseboat show planned at State Dock, followed immediately by Labor Day Weekend, which is followed immediately by the Lake Cumberland Poker Run.

"It will be an exciting end to the summer," Jasper said. "It has been a great season, the weather has been great for boating this summer; hot and dry.

"People have realized that this is still one of the nicest lakes in for 1,000 miles," Jasper added.