Saturday was the first of a four-part series of open races for all sailboats to be run in the Outer Harbor as part of the Summer of Sail. These races are open to the public and follow the guidelines of US Sailing racing rules. Sponsored by the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club, there were three classes of sailboats participating this week. The Boothbay Harbor One Design (BHOD) Class, the Racing Class for J80 and other fast boats, and the Cruising Class for boats of all classes with PHRF ratings. Ratings for each type of boat design allow the race committee to add a time handicap for the faster boats, giving everyone a chance to win.

Boothbay Harbor One Design Class

Saturday’s racing ended with a tie for first place between Charisma sailed by Eric Hakanson and his son Erik and Mumtaz sailed by Nate Cagle and Russ Hoffman.

Racing Class

The Racing class boats took off and sailed out to Cuckold’s bell and back. The match race found a new boat in the harbor against a long-time Boothbay Harbor racer. Caliente, sailed by Bob Scribner, won the match race against the beautiful Alden 50, Amelie, sailed by Jack McBride. These boats will be facing off several more times this summer and are great to watch.

Cruising Class

The cruising class was very close and shows the value of handicap rating in a good breeze. Although Sapphire, skippered by Lee Corbin, crossed the finish line nearly 14 minutes ahead, Two Dogs (on corrected time) won by 16 seconds. As owner of the losing boat, the author bowed to competitor Stott Carlton and his extended family who crewed. We hope to race against each other several more times this summer.

The next event in the “Summer of Sail” is the Boothbay Harbor One Design Invitational fun sail Sunday, June 27. As part of the first day of Windjammer week, the fleet of BHOD’s that can come welcome all keel boats under 30 feet to come for a fun sail around the inner harbor. As we know any time there are a few boats sailing the same course, they end up racing. The lobster boat fleet is also in the harbor, so it is great way to start up the season. The start will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday near the Coast Guard mooring just outside the BHYC mooring field.

The next “Summer of Sail” Series race will be the first of two Classic boat races on July 3. These races were very popular last year, and we understand more boats are planning to come this year. As previously mentioned, please register early via the link bellow, as we need to organize a timed start, based on the speed of your boat. We also ask races to download racing instructions. Any mono hull boat with a design from the 20th century or older is welcome.

For further information, sailing instructions and to register, go to the Regatta Management Solutions calendar https://www.regattaman.com/calendar.php, select the race date and click info or register, or go to www.bhyc.net/ /racing-and-regattas to check the time and to register for these races. All sailboats are welcome.