La Bella Vita cruises across the finish line as the Maine Lobster Boat Racing season wrapped up on Sunday in Portland Harbor. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)
Maine lobstermen work hard and move fast on the water throughout the lobstering season, tallying up miles on the ocean each day and hauling trap after trap. On Sunday in Portland Harbor, their goal was more simple: move fast.
“It’s NASCAR on the water,” said Katie Werner, who oversees the lobster boat race in Casco Bay.
Werner organizes the Portland Lobster Boat Race with her husband, lobsterman Thom Werner. Stationed on the Werners’ 50-by-20-foot lobster boat the “Patience,” the couple and their friends and family operated the race’s command center, calling which boats won each race as they completed the half-mile course and crossed the finish line marked with buoys.
A wreath is tossed into the water during a blessing of the tug boats before they raced in Portland Harbor on Sunday. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)
In one race, the “Happy Hour” sped across the finish line going 29.6 mph, with “Pretty Woman” winning its heat at 27 mph. With over 30 races with a few boats each and over 50 participating boats divided by size and fuel type, the race stretched for hours. Race participants and onlookers floated in the harbor with their families and peers in a fleet of lobster boat enthusiasts, listening to the race announcer by radio.
“This is a family day. Sunday is the one day a week lobstermen can’t haul, and they’re workaholics. So this is a day they can all be out here with their families,” said Werner.
Lobster boat races take place throughout the summer up and down the coast of Maine, with the season starting with races in Boothbay Harbor and Rockland Harbor on June 14 and 15 and concluding with races off of Long Island on Saturday and Portland on Sunday. With about one race per weekend and lobstermen often competing on a circuit, the back-to-back races such as this weekend’s draw the largest crowds.
“It’s a get-together. They are all here with their buddies,” said Jon Johansen, former president of the Maine Lobster Boat Race Association, who was photographing racing boats from the “Patience.”
In addition to offering camaraderie, the Portland event served as a fundraiser for a scholarship fund through the Maine Fishermen’s Forum that supports children of fishing families. Last year, the race raised over $4,200 in merchandise sales and competitors donating their winnings to the cause.
Keeping the half-mile race course clear of other boats was the job of the Portland Harbormaster and Coast Guard, both of which were kept busy as kayaks left East End Beach and vacationing sailboats cluelessly neared the designated stretch of water.
Passengers celebrate from the stern of Ri Jo during the Maine Lobster Boat Races on Sunday in Portland Harbor. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)
Patrolling the waters and redirecting boats around the race was Senior Deputy Harbormaster Hattie Train. Growing up on Long Island in a lobstering family, she has participated in many races herself over the years – just on Saturday, Train rode in the Long Island lobster boat race with friends.
“This weekend is my Super Bowl,” said Train. “Both in the work way and the fun way.”
Following the lobster boat competition, five tugboats gathered in the harbor for a race on the course. A rarer event than lobster boat racing, the tugboats also faced off in a “muster” by putting their bows together and running their engines against each other. Whichever tugboat pushed the cluster in its direction was deemed the strongest vessel.
Between the nose-to-nose tugboats, families and friends along for the ride were close enough to spray the competing tugboat passengers with squirt guns. In the background of the muster, a cruise ship and luxury yachts were docked and small skiffs darted by.
“It’s a great example of how diverse our harbor is,” said Train.
While the competitive energy of the lobster boat races and tugboat challenges was palpable, the event served Maine boatowners beyond winning and losing.
Jessica Johnston reaches for a “koozie” after the Ri Jo out of Freeport won a race at the Maine Lobster Boat Races on Sunday in Portland Harbor. The Ri Jo donated their earnings ($100) to a college scholarship fund which will be presented at Maine Fisherman Forum. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)
Having run lobster boat races across the state for 17 years, Johansen said that it takes “a lot of power, and a lot of money” to craft a winning boat – a higher horsepower engine can cost $125,000.
While some of the boats in the race are used just for competition, Johansen said 95% of the competing vessels are working fishing boats, and are outfitted for a variety of purposes other than speed, such as stability.
Regardless if they expect to win a race, when Maine lobstermen’s boats are their livelihoods, getting them out on the water to show what they are made of is an opportunity to express their pride.
“People work hard on these boats every day,” said Train. “It’s fun to show off.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
