Page 10. MAINE COASTAL NEWS August 2012 LOBSTER BOAT RACE SEASON HALF OVER


In the recreational race at Moosebec Reach Alton Smith goes for a wild ride.


LISA MARIE and 16TH AVENUE battling it out in the Diesel Free-for-All race at Moosebec.


SEARSPORT-STONINGTON – The big- gest lobster boat race weekend of the sum- mer are the Searsport and Stonington races, which were held on 14 and 15 July. The sun came up, everything began heating up, but no sou’west breeze materi- alized so it got real hot. There were fi ve entrants registered in the Gasoline Classes they were sent down all at once. Of course fi rst over was FOOLISH PLEASURE, followed by CRY BABY and then BLACK DIAMOND, FROSTY PUN- KIN and WIDE OPEN.


ABIGAIL & CARTER and EMILY GRACE have been in the tightest races of the season. Continued from Page 1.


no intention of making this a point's race. He wanted to keep things the way they are.


Now it was onto Moosebec Reach. This race was held on 30 June instead of the usual Fourth of July so if the races had to be postponed for some reason, they had options. The race committee, headed by Er- ick Blackwood, had also been doing all they could to try and get more people entered, and they succeeded as 98 boats were signed up to race.


The day started off clear and remained that way all day.


Moosebec has a lot of people, especially young people, racing in the Work Boat class- es, and because of this they have added in a couple of their own classes.


The only place on the coast that allows recreational boats to race is Moosebec. Over the years there have been a number of mishaps and today was not going to be the exception. As the racers came up the course Alton Smith’s JOHNNY B. GOODE began chine walking and then slowly went up in the air doing a complete 360 and then coming down with a huge splash. There was a lot of concern for Alton, but within seconds you could see him swim to the boat. There were no entrants in the Dragger Class, and just one boat in the Wooden Boat Race, which was easily won by Chris Page’s ABIGAIL & CARTER. Moosebec Reach is the home of a number of great wooden boat- builders and a number of the boats they built are still around. It was too bad that several did not come out for a run.


There were only six boats entered in the


fi ve Gasoline Classes. The real interesting battle was going to be Class C, which had two entrants, Craig Libby’s NIGHTMARE and Randy Durkee’s BLACK DIAMOND from Islesboro. This was a tight race up the course, but at the fi nish line it was NIGHT- MARE by a couple of boat lengths. In Class


E FOOLISH PLEASURE and TRINITY would face off once again. It was looking like an easy win for FOOLISH PLEASURE, but as she neared the fi nish line she coughed and died in the water. She began drifting to- wards the fi nish, but just did not have enough to get over before TRINITY crossed. Galen Alley looked totally dejected and the sight of antifreeze on the deck probably meant the end of racing for at least that day. There were some Diesel Class races with a lot of racers. A great battle took place in Class C between Erick Blackwood’s SHANNA & ERICK David Wiberg’s SAN- DRA DEE. It looked close at the beginning, but about half way up the course SANDRA DEE was in the lead. Another good battle of the day was in Class J between Wendall Bryant’s 16th


JANICE ELAINE. It was a good race up the course, but 16th


AVENUE and David Myrick’s AVENUE had just a little bit


more. Then came the biggest class of the day, Class M with 15 boats entered. The winner of the fi nals was SIZE MATTERS, followed by AMANDA JOY & LOGI BEAR and GRAMP’S BIRD.


What we thought was a death blow to FOOLISH PLEASURE was just a minor issue and she was back on the line for the Gasoline Free-for-All. She won this with a speed of 68 mph.


Nine boats were on the line for the Diesel Free-for-All and the winner by just a boat length was LISA MARIE over 16th AVENUE.


Next up was the World’s Fastest Work- ing Lobster Boat, which was won by LISA MARIE by a boat length over 16th


AVENUE. Just three boats came to the line for the


fi nal race of the day, World’s Fastest Recre- ational Lobster Boat, and it was no surprise to see FOOLISH PLEASURE crossing fi rst with NIGHTMARE second and TRINITY third.


Now it is onto Searsport and Stoning- ton.


Next up were the Diesel Classes. So far this year EASY MONEY has dominated Class A, but Howard Gray of Cape Eliza- beth brought out BLUE THUNDER and challenged EASY MONEY for the top spot and won. This could make for an interesting battle for the year-end trophy. The closest race of the day was in Class F. Over the last several years the big battle has been between Bill Grant’s DOUBLE G. and Ed Torosian’s MS. ROSE, but today there was another rac- er in the mix, Winifred Alley’s VICTORIA ANN. As they came up the course the three boats were close, but especially MS. ROSE and VICTORIA ANN. It was too close to call and they were given a tie. In Class I there has been a battle at several of the venues with either Gary Genthner’s LISA MARIE, Chris Smith’s MISTY or Scott Wood’s WILD ONE the winner. Today, it was just LISA MARIE and MISTY facing off and in another very close fi nish, the winner was MISTY. Look who showed up for Class K, Andy Gove brought over UNCLE’S UFO and would take the top spot by several boat lengths.


Next up was the Wooden Boat race and already this year we have seen a real battle between Chris Page’s ABIGAIL & CAR- TER and Bill Lowe’s EMILY GRACE and today was going to be no different. When they crossed the fi nish line the bows were nearly even, but the race committee deemed EMILY GRACE the winner.


Seven boats entered the Diesel Free-


for-All and it was going to be a great race between UNCLE’S UFO and WHISTLIN’ DIXIE, but it was UNCLE’S UFO crossing for the win.


For the last race of the day, Fastest Lob- ster Boat, it was all FOOLISH PLEASURE, with UNCLE’S UFO and WHISTLIN DIX- IE following her.


It was another great day as we gathered at the Stonington Town Dock for sign-up. The sun was shining brightly, and there was a nice sou’westerly breeze. When sign-ups ended we had 90 boats competing. One of the most impressive races is the


John’s Bay Boat Co. Race. As the seven boats headed up the course it was two broth- ers battling for the top spot. Alan Dugas’ DELUSIONAL was leading Scott Dugas’ SAND DOLLARS III at the halfway point


and managed to hold on, with his brother second and Chris Page’s ABIGAIL & CAR- TER third.


There were four boats going to compete


in the Wooden Boat Race, but all eyes were going to be on ABIGAIL & CARTER and EMILY GRACE, which has been a real battle all year. As they came up the course it was anyone’s race, and at the fi nish it was too close to call and the race committee asked the two to run it again. Up the course they came again and it was another photo fi nish, but the race committee declared ABIGAIL & CARTER the winner.


It was now onto the Diesel Classes and all classes had competitors in them. The match between MS. ROSE and VICTORIA ANN, was close but MS. ROSE was declared the winner. Third went to HEE HAW, which had just a slight problem. Heading to the races, Brent was on the phone while passing some government marks in a channel and his signifi cant other asked about the rock weed, when they suddenly discovered rocks. The boat began leaking and when they reached Billing’s Diesel and Marine they lifted her out on the Travelift. Brent had never seen one of these contraptions before. They made repairs, but when they put her back in she still had a leak, which they located under one of the longitudinal stringers. He wanted to race in the submarine class, but we do not offer one. In Class I this time it was LISA MARIE over MISTY. Class M had just four boats on the line, but it pit a father and son against each other. At the line it was Patrick Faulkingham’s GRAMP’S BIRD besting his son’s, Billy Bob, 51. Shawn Hatch’s JILL CAYDEN was third. The battle continued in Class N between 4 GIRLS and WHISTLIN’ DIXIE, which this time went to 4GIRLS. Third was Brent Oliver’s JARASULAN. In the Diesel Free-for-All there were so many boats competing that it was split up into two heats. In the fi nals it was all UNCLE’S UFO, followed by WHISTLIN’ DIXIE and CYNTHIA LYNN.


In the Jimmy Stevens Cup – Fastest


Working Lobster, again it was UNCLE’S UFO, with WHISTLIN’ DIXIE second. In the fi nal race of the day, Stonington’s Fastest Lobstah Boat Afl oat it ended up with the same results.


It should be noted that Alfred Osgood’s


STARLIGHT EXPRESS was repaired at Journey’s End Marina in Rockland. She had spun a main bearing on two of the journals so they pulled the engine and built one out of two. She went back in the water on 9 July and now needs to put hours on it. What a fi rst half of the racing s eason,


great weather, great turn out and some real close races.


Remember for full race coverage go to mainescoast.com and go to the lobster boat racing sections for newsletters that have in-depth coverage and lots of photographs.


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