Maine’s Lobster Boat Racing season continued on July 23 with 41 boats lining up in Friendship. Though for a while racing looked a little iffy with only two boats having been signed up by 9 o’clock. Perhaps the tardiness of the lobster-boat racers was because of spread of food along the Friendship docks. Breakfast sandwiches were especially popular, with 150 sold.
The Wild Wild West (West 28 with a 1,050-hp Isotta) continued her dominance, winning class L (901 hp and over, 28 feet and over), the diesel free-for-all and the fastest lobster boat race.
There were definitely some good races. In gasoline class D (V-8, 376 hp and over, 28 feet and over) Shawn Alley’s Little Girls, a 28-foot Calvin, repowered with a big, mud-running gasoline engine, won its race against the Lynn Marie at just over 50 mph. In the gasoline free-for-all, Little Girls was four to five boat lengths ahead of the pack when something happened to the engine and while Little Girls was going fast enough to coast over the finish line, Lynn Marie swept by for the win.
In diesel class K 701–900 hp, 28 feet to 39 feet 11 inches, the Blue Eyed Girl, a Northern Bay 38 with a 900-hp Scania, trounced its competition, besting second place finisher La Bella Vita, a Northern Bay 38 with a 750-hp FPT and Lisa Marie, a Libby 34 with a 690-hp FPT. Blue Eyed Girl hit 42.7 mph.
However, in the Diesel Free For All, Blue Eyed Girl was up against Wild Wild West and that was a boat she couldn’t take. Wild Wild West won at 57 mph, with Blue Eyed Girl second and Lisa Marie coming in third.
The next race is scheduled for Aug. 12 at Winter Harbor, followed a day later by races at Pemaquid. The final two races are Aug. 19 and Aug. 20 at Long Island and then Portland.
