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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 8
April 2008
ME readies for 2008 lobster boat race season
ROCKPORT, ME – Maine lobster boat racers passed go, collected a major new sponsor, and steamed full speed ahead toward the 2008 season at the March 1 annual meeting of the Maine Lobster Boat Racing Association held during the 33rd annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum at the Samoset Resort.
Ignoring the copious amount of heavy snow that was being dumped outside courtesy of a gale wind, more than 70 racers and fans made plans for a nine-card race season that begins on the first day of summer this year, June 21, at Boothbay Harbor. The first eight races will count toward a season’s points challenge before a final, just-for-fun and prizes race at Pemaquid on Aug. 10.
An offer from the Florida-based diesel engine distributor Motor-Services Hugo Stamp Inc. to sponsor this year’s points challenge was enthusiastically received by racers.
Association President Jon Johansen said that the $3,500 sponsorship will be used to pay for liability insurance and to purchase end-of-year awards for winners in the various class contests. Motor-Services Hugo Stamp distributes Deutz, Iveco, and MAN diesel engines through a network of dealer/service centers in the Northeast region.
Elections
Johansen was re-elected as the group’s president during the session’s annual business meeting. Travis Otis of Searsport was elected vice president, replacing Keith Young of Winter Harbor, who stepped down after several years in that position.
Rachel Elward was elected to fill the secretary/treasurer position previously held by Otis.
Johansen also announced that Erick Blackwood of Beals will be coordinating this year’s Fourth of July race on Moosabec Reach, taking over the helm for Melanie Alley, who served as Moosabec chairman for several past seasons.
Rules, classes
Only minor changes were made in the rules and classes for 2008. Competition again will be divided into five gasoline and 14 diesel classes, plus a wooden boat class.
Carburetor size restrictions were approved for Class C on the gasoline side.
“The intent was to give the true, working lobster boats a chance to compete fairly with each other in the smaller horsepower classes, leaving the high horsepower classes for boats that were built just for racing,” Johansen explained. “Folks want to see the fast boats, but let’s face it, some of them have never hauled a lobster trap.”
New boats
Speaking of new, go-fast boats, several project boats may make their debut during the upcoming season, including a “cloned” version of Galen Alley’s pride of Beal’s Island, Lorna R.
The speedy but finicky 35-year-old restored wooden boat established itself as arguably the fastest boat in the racing fleet over the past two seasons. During the off-season, Alley had a one-off, foam cored fiberglass replica molded at the nearby Ernest Libby Jr. Boat Shop, using the original Lorna R as the mold plug.
Galen and his brother Rocky Alley, along with Archie Alley and Randy Kelley, plan to have the new fiberglass incarnation finished in time for the season opener in Boothbay Harbor. Steuben race engine guru Richard Weaver has been retained to build the powerplant for the new speedster.
Light-weight, high-strength hull construction is also the route being taken by Boothbay Harbor lobsterman David Taylor, who is having a new Kevlar composite Crowley-Beal 33 built to replace his well-known Andrea & Donna, which often led the Diesel Class C in seasons past. The new boat will feature a bigger diesel from Scania, and Taylor hopes the combination will give Long Island boat builder Steve Johnson’s Wild One a run for its money in Diesel Class I this season.
“Right now, the engine weighs more than the boat does,” Taylor reported at the forum, though that will change as the finishing process proceeds.
Another new boat, this one a 36' Calvin Beal Jr., also will likely be seen at the races this year. Stockton Springs lobsterman Bill Grant has sold his perennial Class E champion Gladiator and is reportedly having the replacement finished at the Crowley-Beal Boat Shop in Milbridge.
There was a discussion regarding the end-of-season awards banquet and the consensus was that the event should be held in Rockland sometime in September. Johansen reported that an exact date and location will be announced as soon as it’s determined.
Steve Curtis
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