The first regatta of the 2016 Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club Commodore's Cup was held on the waters of Boothbay Harbor Sunday, June 26. Clear blue skies and warm temperatures greeted sailors along with moderate southerly breezes ranging from 4-knots near the Cuckolds bell buoy to 14 knots near the finish for one boat. The flood tide made for challenging decisions.

The PHRF yachts started racing off Spruce Point heading towards the Cuckolds lighthouse. Jeff Curtis' J-80 Silkie, driven by Gabriella Boord, won the start while the larger and faster J-105 Ghost, owned by Ken Colburn, led the way to the windward mark. Silkie, and Chuck Koch's J-80 Breakaway exchanged forlorn glances at the Cuckolds on the way to windward. While Silkie had won the start and led sisterships Breakaway and Bill Hunt's Firebolt most of the way up the weather leg, she tacked to starboard away from Cape Newagen. Breakaway carried into less current close to shore and tacked to windward of Silkie. Silkie tacked back toward the Cape and took the lead for good when Breakaway sailed into a soft patch of wind.

After rounding the mark, Firebolt proceeded south then east of the Hypocrites islands with Michael Gaffney's smaller Pisces 21 Sunfish behind. Ghost, Silkie and Breakaway proceeded east, then north, Fisherman Island passage as they headed towards the red-white bell buoy. Ghost hardened up at Ram Island carrying her asymmetrical spinnaker and executed a clean gybe through 150 degrees reversing course at the mark. Ghost carried her kite all the way home to finish at 13:15:40 for a winning corrected time of 1:52:25 on the 12-mile course.

As the J-80s converged east of Fisherman Island, it became clear Firebolt's made the right choice catching Breakaway.

Provisional results: Red Fleet — 1st Ghost; 2nd Silkie; 3rd Firebolt; and 4th Breakaway

Cruising: 1st Sunfish

Next race is an annual favorite, the Around Southport Race jointly hosted by Southport and Boothbay Harbor Yacht Clubs on July 3.