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October 2010 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 23. Early Beals Island Lobster Boat Racing Specializing in Marine Electrical Systems


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Photograph: Beals Island Historical Society This is the THOROBRED, which was built by George Addington.


vary somewhat in width up to eight or so feet. Gradually the torpedo sterns gave way to square sterns, which were almost vertical and with tumble home on the upper part of either side. In the early days the boats were fitted with removable canvas spray hoods. Some of the larger round stern boats had a trunk cabin and maybe a hood aft of that. Later on pilot houses would be built at the after end of the hood. The pilot houses were open in the rear and generally on the starboard side, as most boats around home were “right handed”. Still later a trunk cabin and pilot house would be built on the boats.


The models have continued to evolve, resulting in much larger boats, with fiberglass replacing wood in many cases. In later years the models are referred to as Beals Island Models or Jonesport-Beals Models, and they are also identified by the names of their designers. By whatever name the models are called and whoever the designer-builder, they are distinctive and pretty and they are found along the U. S. coasts and in coastal waters in far away places. And the modern boats, like their predecessors, can be driven to amazing speeds.


This phase of the lobster boat racing story in the Moosabec Reach covers, gener- ally, from the 1920s into the 1950s. A second phase followed with bigger wooden boats, big V-8 engines, and spray rails in the 1960s and 70s. The current third phase features mostly fiberglass boats, enormous gas and diesel engines, and capabilities to reach very high speeds.


When there is discussion of early lob- ster boat races the two boats that quickly enter the conversation are the legendary “Red Wing” and the “Thorobred”, built in Beals c. mid-1920s. All one has to do is mention these two torpedo stern speedsters and make a statement or two about which one was faster, which one was built to compete with the other, or such, and you could end up with a debate if not an argument. I believe these statements are correct, but, I’m risking a debate: the “Red Wing” was built by Wil- liam Frost; the “Thorobred’ was built by George Addington, using the “Red Wing” molds; the “Red Wing” was 33 feet in length, and the “Thorobred” was 34 feet long; they were about seven feet wide; the “Red Wing” was named for the brand of marine engine she first had; the “Thorobred” was named for the Thorobred model marine engine even though her first power was a Kermath marine engine. This may be debatable, too, but the horn timbers in these two boats figure into the racing success of the “Thorobred” over the “Red Wing”. It’s said that the “Red Wing’s” horn timber turned up a little, and that made her bow rise and cost her some speed. The horn timber is the part of the frame from the after end of the keel to the end of the stern.


I am only naming the “Thorobred” and “Red Wing” even though there were other popular fast boats. I don’t want to make a list and then find I’ve omitted any boats. A number of boats had names but some had no names.


Some of the faster boats had very thin keels, maybe three inches thick. They were so thin that they didn’t have a two-piece shaft log. Instead of a log the shaft tunnel would be bored out or burned out. The thin keels prob- ably weren’t rabbeted for the toes of the timbers. Instead, the timbers would be fas- tened to the top of the keel.


As time passed used car engines were installed in many boats. The engines, in many cases at least, came out of cars that had been in wrecks. Two large auto wreckers in Orono were good sources for engines, Silver’s and Penobscot.


The “Red Wing” and the “Thorobred” both had straight eight Buick Roadmaster engines, as did several other boats. Other boats had flat head straight eights and straight sixes, both flat head and overhead valves. The engines would have direct ex- haust pipes, and the sounds were loud, in- credible, and unforgettable. Early in the morning of the 4th


you could hear the racers


out in the Reach trying them out. The race was not formally structured. I believe there was no race committee, except maybe the selectmen would set the time for the race and perhaps serve as starter and finish line judges.


Some fishermen would ground out for a few tides to dry their boats out and clean and maybe paint the bottoms. Some men used car wax on the bottoms of their boats. All boats were wooden, typically with oak frame and cedar planking. Almost every boat was painted white with buff or orange buff trim. Some boats had green bottoms but most bottoms were painted red.


Racing is application of physics. When preparing to race and get the highest possible speed from their boats, some racers would do tune-ups, advance the timing as much as they dared, add a second carburetor, or possibly even a third, maybe ream out the holes in the needle valves in the carburetors, change pitch in their propellers, and possibly put on bigger props and use second gear. Some men might take their fresh water cooling pipes off the bottoms and have the engines pump the salt water through them. Some would take the spray hoods off. In some cases as stories go, some would put aboard moth balls, ether, wood alcohol, high test gasoline if available, and, there was talk that in some instances aviation gas was used. Some men would take their boats out and run the engines at top speed, get them really hot,


Continued on Page 24.


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