It was Sunday, July 27 when 47 Maine lobster boats steamed to Casco Bay and the fishing community of Harpswell, for the seventh race of the 2025 lobster boat racing season. Rain and some wind had been forecast.
But the weather “was pretty good, a little windy and one to two-foot waves. That’s not bad,” said Jon Johansen, the scorer for the Maine lobster boat races. “It doesn’t affect the speed because you’re going with it. Helps a little bit.” He noted that the chop wasn’t too bad for the smaller boats either, “though now and then a skiff might be launched completely out of the water, except for maybe its prop.”
There were 32 races on Sunday. Possibly the most memorable race was the Diesel Free-For-All.
“We had 11 boats on the line and let all 11 come down at once,” said Johansen. “That was pretty wild.” Andrew Taylor’s Blue Eyed Girl (Morgan Bay 38, 900-hp Scania) won the race at 50.4 mph. “That was close,” noted Johansen. “Seven boats came over the line in a matter of 50 feet. That was really close.”
Blue Eyed Girl was followed by Miss Ava Elaine (Northern Bay 36, 1,200-hp MAN) and La Belle Vita (Northern Bay 38, 815-hp FPT) in third.
A lot of local Casco Bay boats competed on Sunday. A notable exception was Dana Beal’s Natalie E (Libby 41, 1,000-hp FPT). Beal and his Natalie E traveled south six hours from Beals island to race in one event, the Diesel Class N/A, 40 feet and over, 751 to 1,000 hp and over. Running unopposed, Natalie E crossed the finish line at 43.2 mph.
Over the years, Stevie Johnson has lined up for races with some bizarre designs that he brings from Long Island, N.Y., including a 1994 Pontiac convertible chained to a boat deck. The boat was powered by a pair of 200-hp outboards and Johnson controlled the “boat” from the Pontiac’s front seat.
Nothing so bizarre this time for Johnson: just the Wild Irish Rose (Newman 46, 500-hp diesel). Johnson finished second in Class M (A) 40 feet and over, up to 500 hp, behind Justin Papkee’s Pull N’ Pray (Wayne Beal 40, 500-hp Isuzu). They were the only two boats in the race. Johansen’s response to Johnson’s choice of the Wild Irish Rose as a racing lobster boat: “You can run faster than her.”
It was a 2024 repeat for Robert Johnson in Miss Ava Elaine. Last year, Johnson took first in the race for the Fastest Lobster Boat in Casco Bay, as he did on July 27, 2025, at 46 mph in the first race of the day. Second was Sean Clemons’ Mean Kathleen (Wayne Beal 36,700-hp Scania) and third was Tom Clemons’ 4 Ladies (Wesmac SW46, 1,000-hp Cat).
A bit faster was Blue Eyed Girl in race 32, the Fastest Working Lobster Boat Afloat race, the day’s next to last event. Blue Eyed Girl, matched up against four other boats, including Jeff Eaton’s La Bella Vita and Sean Clemons’ Mean Kathleen, won at 48.2 mph.
Johanson sums up the races “as a good day, and soon after when we got into the docks, it started raining.”
