Maine’s lobster boat racing season is winding down, with the weekend of Aug. 10-11 at Winter Harbor and Pemaquid being the next-to-last two days of racing for 2025.
On Friday night, Aug. 9, 69 boats tied up at the Winter Harbor docks to prepare for Saturday’s race day. They were joined the next morning by 41 more boats for a total of 110 racing lobster boats, a good number by anyone’s estimate, though appreciably below the 183 boats that showed up to race in 2024. Many of those were undoubtedly drawn by the lobster boat hull that was being given away.
The promoters of this year’s Winter Harbor races didn’t have a lobster boat hull to give away, but how about $30,000 in gold and silver that the race organizers acquired in New Bedford and passed out in hat drawings on race day?
“You had 1 in 110 chances to win. You had to be a racer,” noted Jon Johansen, scorer for Maine Lobster Boat Racing. “This is something new.”
A race that got a fair amount of attention was Gasoline Class E (V-8 Over 525 cid, 28 feet and over, supercharger/turbos). The point of attention was the presence of Black Diamond (Holland 32, 672 Chevy). Black Diamond had a major problem at the Stonington races on July 18.
“She lost oil pressure and that did a lot of damage. Had to replace all kinds of things inside the engine,” said Johansen. Fortunately for Black Diamond, which “didn’t look too good in this first run” there was no competition in Gasoline Class E, thus Black Diamond was an automatic winner at 42 mph.
Another noteworthy race was Diesel Class E (336 to 435 hp, 24 to 33 feet) that pitted High Voltage (AJ28, 400-hp Yanmar) against Audrey May (Holland 32, 425-hp Cummins). High Voltage was first across the line at 33 mph. Johansen emphasized that High Voltage’s victory was “something that hasn’t happened in a long time.”
An unusual event was Race 25, the Lady’s Skipper Race. Skippers in that race, like all the other races, must have a lobster license. First across the line, ahead of two other boats, was My Turn, a Wayne Beal 32 with a 500-hp Cummins, skippered by Mariena Beal, a high school 10th grader in Jonesport (no speed was given); Beal also won Diesel Class G (436 to 550 hp, 28 to 35 feet) at 38 mph, beating two other boats.
The following day was Pemaquid’s Merritt Brackett race, named after a gone-but-well-remembered local mechanic, known for his ability to rebuild and redesign lobster boat engines. Fifty-five lobster boats showed up to race. That’s 10 better than the 2024 races.
An interesting match-up was Race 9 (Diesel 211 to 250-hp, 24 feet and over), which featured the lobster boats Capt. EM and Merganser, “two Calvin Beal boats that he designed and built for himself,” said Johansen. Merganser is a 33-foot wooden lobster boat with a 230-hp Yanmar that Calvin built in 1977. Capt. EM is a 20-foot wood boat covered with fiberglass and powered with a 235-hp Cummins. Capt. EM won that match-up at 30 mph.
There was a good gathering of 15 skiffs spread across the three races for clam diggers and lobster pickers. Eight skiffs lined up for Race 3 (Inboards and outboards — 71 hp and over, skiffs 16 feet and over). Jacob Noyes’ White Knuckles (Aquasport 17, 175-hp Johnson) won that one at 44 mph.
The big winner at Pemaquid, said Johanson, was Andrew Taylor’s Blue Eyed Girl (Morgan Bay 38, 900-hp Scania). “Blue Eyed Girl, she won by a boat length or two.” That was in the Diesel Free-For-All, hitting 42 mph and the Fastest Lobster Boat Afloat race at 49 mph.
