The Boothbay RHS team went to SailMaine Saturday, March 31 for its first regatta of the season.

The sailors arrived with dry suits, hats and gloves in hand as the clear skies meant a frosty spring morning that would eventually reach only the mid-40s. Gusty 18 knot winds from the northwest produced wide ranging white caps even close to shore in Portland Harbor. As the teams dressed, rigged boats, and attended the competitor’s meeting, the wind moderated and began to shift to the west. The frosty weather was combined with a frosty reception by race organizers placing Boothbay in the less competitive Non-NESSA division.

Boothbay sailors were led by team captains Nolan Conlin (grade 12) and Nate Graves (12), Ella Beauregard (9), Hamilton Barclay (8), Della Hahn (8) and a ‘borrowed’ skipper from Yarmouth, Oliver Peloquin (9). Two divisions of racers set forth using all 24 Turbo 420s in SailMaine’s retinue. The Boothbay team launched their boats off the concrete ramp and sailed out to the course as the wind dropped to 10 knots.

Team racing pits two teams of three boats each in a short race approximately 10 minutes long. Low point totals win the race. Each match is a best of three race series. Teams generate a won-lost record through the day with the highest number of wins declared the regatta winner. The rules are somewhat different — boats round the weather marks to starboard rather than port, boats on the same team are allowed to talk and help each other, the penalty for an infraction is a single turn penalty, and proper course no longer applies.

The first match against Cape Elizabeth was the toughest as the sailors worked out off-season kinks. Boothbay captains Conlin and Graves sailed together up through 10th grade but then size got the better of them and they sought smaller/lighter sailing partners. It took them two races to get back their timing while Hahn and Peloquin determined who was in command. The Boothbay team won the first race with a 2, 3, 5 combination. The second race looked like it would go to the Capers when Conlin and Graves pulled out a 5th against two opponents with a nifty starboard tack for the finish for a 1, 3, 5. Cape Elizabeth protested and without a judge on the water a third race was run which went to Boothbay in a 1, 2, 5 finish for 8 points.

A delay due to wind shifting occurred after the first match and a true sea breeze came in with fresh 18 knots from the southeast. The Boothbay team faced Portland next and swept the Bulldogs with a 1, 2, 4, and a 1, 2, 5 scores. Southern Maine was up next and went down rather quickly to Boothbay with a 1, 2, 4, and a 1, 2, 3 score. Each boat won a race over the three series.

The Boothbay RHS Team is sponsored by the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club and the BHYC Junior Program Foundation. Sailors from any school or homeschooled in the Boothbay/Midcoast region are welcome.