Wind, fog make for exciting Eggemoggin Reach Regatta Marilee wins Ames Cup in Castine Classic

From clear skies and brisk winds to patchy fog and high gusts, racing on Penobscot Bay tested captains and crews over three days of wooden boat regattas.

“We had a little bit of everything,” Vela captain Havilah Hawkins said, racing in the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta, the culminating race on August 4. “The fog was in and out, so it got interesting.”

The Castine Classic kicked off racing on August 2 as a fleet of 36 yachts raced in four classes, with Marilee, a 59-foot NY40 helmed by Andrew Parente, won the Ames Cup for the fastest overall time, three hours and nine minutes.

Racing began with a brisk southwesterly breeze as the first yachts crossed the start line at the Castine Harbor bell buoy, but the breeze soon began to wane.

“The Classic C fleet struggled with a dying breeze late in the day,” noted race chairman David Bicks.

The 52-foot Sonny, captained by Laurel Gaudet, won the Sparkman & Stephens Trophy, while Otter, helmed by Robert Keefer, took home the Phalarope Trophy as the fastest Concordia yacht.

This was the 19th year of the Castine Yacht Club-hosted race, sailing a 19.6-nautical mile course that ends off Curtis Island in Camden.

“It was as good as it gets,” Falcon captain Bob Scott said, with a classic wooden boat symposium preceding the regatta a highlight. “It was magic.”

The next day’s Camden Classic brought 59 boats sailing through the Deer Island Thorofare to Brooklin, with race committee chairman Richard Stetson shortening the race because of light winds. Isobel, a 68-foot Stephens/Waring yacht built by Brooklin Boat Yard and captained by Richard Schotte, won for having the fastest elapsed time.

One hundred and four boats, many with spinnakers flying, raced the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta, from a start beyond Naskeag Point in Brooklin, across the Reach, ending back in Brooklin at WoodenBoat School.

“The thing about [handicapped] racing is that you never know where you are,” noted Hawkins, who raced in the Gaff & Schooner class, one of eight classes in the regatta. “You just get there as fast as you can.”

With the wind picking up in bursts, Hawkins said he had to take down sails throughout the race, but the strong wind made for an exciting race start. “We had more wind than we wanted [at times], but it was so up and down that you just hang on for a while.”

Sonny, raced in the Vintage B class during the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta, won the Joel White Award for the fastest corrected time, while Shotte and his boat Isobel, raced in the Spirit of Tradition B Class, won for the fastest elapsed time.

Vela won as Most Photogenic Boat, and the Oldest Crew Award went to Misty, captained by Queene Foster, with two-thirds of the crew over the age of 80.

More than a few boats raced in all three regattas, including the 54-foot Sparkman & Stephens NY42 Falcon—“We’re in all three every year,” Scott said—and Vortex, captained by Brooklin Boat Yard owner Stephen White, a 52-foot Stephens/Waring yacht built in his own yard, which also co-sponsors the ERR with Rockport Marine.