Photo: Alison Langley
Summer weather in Maine is always a roll of the dice, but whether its sunny skies and sea breeze or fog that stifles the wind, the beauty that is Maine is never taken for granted by sailors who travel near and far for the series of regattas that take place in late July and early August. This year was no exception with over 100 different classic yachts taking to starting lines of 5 events over 3 weeks.
The weather was not the only thing mixing it up week to week, it seems the teams on the podium were different from race to race giving everyone a chance to take home a little bit of silver.
The first regatta was the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club Regatta and Shipyard Cup Classics Challenge on July 23rd and 24th. According to their recap, it was a "beautiful Saturday of sun and light to moderate breezes, followed by similar conditions for Sunday's early race. High teens to low 20s breezes led to a very competitive and exciting 2nd race." Black Watch (Vintage), Leaf (Classics), The Hawk (Modern Classic), and Blackfish (Spirit of Tradition topped thier respective divisions.
Camden Classic Cup was next in the sesries. Held July 28-30, 2022, this two-day event featured something for everyone, distance races for the larger Vintage, Modern Classics, and Classics, and shorter courses for the daysailers - all capped off with social events at the new Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding facility in downtown Camden and a boat parade on Saturday morning.
The breeze for the event was sometimes "squirrelly" but ideal according to their recap. The Camden Classic Cup went to Leaf, Ben Hall’s Luders 24 with Palawan (Classic), The Hawk (Modern Classic), Siren (Vintage), Blackfish (Spirit of Tradition), and Zemphira (Contemporary) topping their respective divisions.
Next, it was the Castine Classic Yacht Regatta on August 4th, where an impressive fleet of 35 classic yachts will race a 19.6nm course from Castine to Camden. Siren, Bijou II, Chance, and Outlier finished at the top of their respective classes in that event.
"The thirty-five yacht fleet beat down the sparkling waters of Penobscot Bay in a brisk and steady south to southwest breeze, rounded Robinson Rock south of Islesboro and had a spinnaker run to the finish off Curtis Island in Camden," according to their recap.
This was supposed to be followed by the Camden to Brooklin Feeder Race on Friday, August 5th but due to lack of wind, the regatta never was able to get started so the boats motored over to Brooklin for the annual Eggemoggin Reach Regatta on Saturday, August 6.
The weather continued to be finicky that day with light winds and fog facing the racers. Some competitors even dropped anchor in order not to lose ground on the current pushing them away from the finish. The course was eventually shortened to allow competitors to cross the line.
112 boats took on what Boston Magazine calls "one of the best kept secrets of the sailing world." The awards of the annual 15 mile regatta are too many to name are listed here.
All these events culminated in the CYOA’s Maine District regatta series. 15 CYOA member boats who declare Maine as their home district had to compete in at least 3 races across 2 events to qualify and their top 3 races are counted. Below are the Preliminary Results. The final results will be reviewed by the Technical Committee at the conclusion of the season.
The summer season in Maine might be short but it sure is worth all the time and effort these classics have spent getting ready for it. The Classic Yacht Challenge Series continues this weekend and also kicks off the Massachusetts District Racing Series with the Corinthian Classic Regatta in Marblehead, MA.
Preliminary Maine District Results:
| First Name | Last Name | Boat Name | Division | Maine Races | District Series Score | District Place in Division |
| Brooke | Parish | MERMAID | Classic | 4 | 87.50 | 1 |
| Joshua | Goldberg | BESHERTE | Classic | 7 | 73.08 | 2 |
| Craig | Buttner | ROZINANTE | Classic | 5 | 66.67 | 3 |
| Steve | White | VORTEX | Modern Classic | 4 | 86.96 | 1 |
| Phin | Sprague | LIONS WHELP | Modern Classic | 4 | 45.00 | 2 |
| Tenacious | Holdings LLC | ZEMPHIRA | Spirit of Tradition | 5 | 67.86 | 1 |
| Rob | McAlpine | RESTIVE | Spirit of Tradition | 6 | 62.50 | 2 |
| Robert | Stephens | ZINGARA | Spirit of Tradition | 4 | 38.46 | 3 |
| Joe | Faber | SENSHIN | Spirit of Tradition | 5 | 32.14 | 4 |
| Ken | Colburn | MARILEE | Vintage | 5 | 92.11 | 1 |
| Chris | Bouzaid | BIJOU II | Vintage | 6 | 86.05 | 2 |
| Bob | Scott | FALCON | Vintage | 4 | 64.81 | 3 |
| Peter | Gallant | POLLY | Vintage | 6 | 54.17 | 4 |
| Tom | Ashton | PHALAROPE | Vintage | 4 | 39.58 | 5 |
| Rebecca / Brian | Selleck / Barth | SPICE | Vintage | 3 | 10.42 | 6 |
