Ok. It’s the end of June and what does the end of June mean for many Maine lobstermen? Race time.

The Wild Wild West setting a new diesel speed record at Bass Harbor. Jon Johansen photo.A winter’s worth of bragging, boasting or maybe just silent hoping, culminates when you take the boat you depend on for earning a living, idle up to the starting line, hands shaking, sweat rolling off your brow, then when the starter’s flag drops jam the throttle forward.

So far there have been three races: Boothbay (June 18), Rockland (June 19) and Bass Harbor (June 26). The biggest story of the first three races was Cameron Crawford’s 28-foot Wild, Wild, West, which set a new diesel speed record at Bass Harbor.

At Boothbay, Wild, Wild West’s fastest time was 54.6. The first race she won at Bass Harbor the speed was 51.8 mph, though it’s said there were wakes across the course where a couple of boats had cut through before the race. That would slow down a fast burner like the Wild, Wild West. But for the last race of the day, the Fastest Lobster Boat race, conditions were perfect. A slight breeze had created ripples on the water’s surface, which it is said breaks the water’s surface tension. 

Conditions must have been perfect for the Wild, Wild West with a 1,050-hp Isotta Fraschini hit 60.6 mph. That broke the old record of 58.9 mph set in Portland in 2010 by Alfred Osgood’s Starlight Express with a 900-hp Mack. Rumor is that losing his record might bring Osgood out of retirement.

Here is the racing schedule for the remainder of the summer:

July 2              Moosabec Reach (Jonesport and Beals Island)

July 10            Stonington

July 24            Friendship 

August 13        Winter Harbor

August 14         Pemaquid

August 20       Long Island

August 21         Portland