July 2018 will be a record-breaking season of sail for the Boothbay Harbor region, thanks to the efforts of the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club and its young sailors. Four major events have been scheduled which will involve youth of all ages from all over the country especially the East Coast. The combined events may bring over 500 young people plus their parents and strongest supporters to the region for varying numbers of nights and days, at any rate a major contributor to the economy as well as the junior experience.

The Junior Olympic Festival will take place July 9-13 and it is a qualifier for the Smythe (single-handed) & Bemis (double-handed) Chubb National Championships. Competitors may come from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and Maine. Competition will be in Lasers and C420 sailboats and will take place in the inner and outer harbor depending on course and wind/weather conditions.

In the same time period, the Maine State 420 championships will be contested and included in the favorites are the team of Ella Beauregard and Hamilton Barclay of the host BHYC team.

The following week, July 12-13, BHYC will host the Maine State Optimist Championships which features single-handed racing in a diminutive, but sailed worldwide, Optimist Pram. The event is open to sailors from the United States and Canada and comes to Boothbay Harbor by reason of its winner in 2017 – Hamilton Barclay, a resident of West Boothbay Harbor. Traditionally the winner’s club gets to host the event in the following year.

For this event there will be a green fleet made up of novice racers who are here for the experience and who will race in the inner harbor. The championship fleets, Red (15 yrs and Under), White (10 years and younger) and Blue (12 years and younger) will race in the outer harbor.

The combined events will bring many sailing notables from across the country, including the US Naval Academy’s Offshore sailing team in their TP52 who will be present at end of the JO festival. Also expected to participate in race management efforts will be the legendary America’s Cup official Dr Robin Wallace of the New York Yacht Club.

For additional information, contact the BHYC Club manager at 633-5750.