Tag Archives: Bass Harbor

Choppy waters limit crowd, times at Bass Harbor lobster boat races

More than three dozen lobstermen battled it out in Bass Harbor this past weekend as part of the annual lobster boat races, but perhaps their toughest competitor was race day’s choppy waters. Conditions were a little rougher than ideal, but nothing the boats couldn’t handle, said Jon Johansen, the president of the Maine Lobster Boat Racing Association. Thirty-seven boats from across the region showed up, about half of what the race has boasted in the past. Some only had to travel from their mooring in Bernard to the starting line but others came from locales such as Prospect Harbor, Stonington, Beals, Searsport, Milbridge, Corea and Islesford,,, >photos, click to read< 10:49

Rachel Irene, Wild Wild West win at Bass Harbor boat races

Sun-baked racers looked as red as the cooked version of their daily catch once prizes were doled out at the 8th Annual Bass Harbor Lobster Boat Races on Sunday. Cameron Crawford’s 1,000-plus horsepower Wild Wild West was the winner in the diesel free-for-all category and the overall “Fastest Lobster Boat” competition, but didn’t set a new diesel speed record. Greg Lewis’s Rachel Irene, a Mitchell Cove 35 with a 500-horsepower Cummins under the platform, earned the title of “Bass Harbor’s Fastest Lobster Boat.” >click to read<20:16

This competition might be the most Maine way to welcome in summer

If you are looking for something to race, few vehicles are less suited to the task than lobster boats. Squat, squarish, loaded with tons of equipment, lobster boats are essentially floating platforms, working craft from which lobster traps are hauled up or dropped off, often in lousy weather. Yet about 70 such boats are expected to race a mile course just outside Bass Harbor on Sunday as part of the 2018 Maine Lobster Boat Racing season. The races are free and open to the public, according to Wayne Rich, a lobsterman and organizer of the Bass Harbor Lobster Boat Race. >click to read<11:50