Thu, 06/27/2024 - 7:15pm

FRITZ FREUDENBERGER

A racer cries out at the starting line as his team cheers him on during the Windjammer Days Cod Fish Races June 26. FRITZ FREUDENBERGER/Boothbay Register

Cod Fish Race organizer Jack Herger with the 2024 winning team, Shmaker’s Bay, from Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club. FRITZ FREUDENBERGER/Boothbay Register

Jack Herger starts the races with the first fish of the day. FRITZ FREUDENBERGER/Boothbay Register

The Cod Squad came all the way from Texas with matching team shirts. FRITZ FREUDENBERGER/Boothbay Register

FRITZ FREUDENBERGER/Boothbay Register

A racer cries out at the starting line as his team cheers him on during the Windjammer Days Cod Fish Races June 26. FRITZ FREUDENBERGER/Boothbay Register

Cod Fish Race organizer Jack Herger with the 2024 winning team, Shmaker’s Bay, from Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club. FRITZ FREUDENBERGER/Boothbay Register

Jack Herger starts the races with the first fish of the day. FRITZ FREUDENBERGER/Boothbay Register

The Cod Squad came all the way from Texas with matching team shirts. FRITZ FREUDENBERGER/Boothbay Register

FRITZ FREUDENBERGER/Boothbay Register

The Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club boys defended their title at the annual Windjammer Days Cod Fish Races June 26. Team Shmaker’s Bay beat 10 others to keep their title as the fastest fish handlers in town after winning the event last year.

“I think it was another great year,” said race organizer Jack Herger. “We probably had more kids this year than we've had before, and we had two teams of four with every kid under 12 years old. So that's, I think, a first.”

The youngest competitor in the race was around 6 years old, according to Herger.

Cyrus Blake, Toby Clarkson, Rath Schoenthal and Otto Schoenthal won the race in 3:02:49. The Bottom Feeders, from Brunswick, took second place in 3:56:60. In third was Fishy Business, from Maine and North Carolina. The team finished in 4:42:27.

Shmaker’s bay team members said the key to their success was practice, and they go through putting on oilskins and racing when possible. They said they even review footage of previous races to improve their skills. It seems to be working because the team shaved almost 20 seconds off last year’s time. According to Herger, they placed second in 2022 because they were docked time on a technicality. Next year, members said they hope to finish in under three minutes.

This year, competitors came from as far as New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. Herger said The Cod Squad has come two years in a row from the Lone Star State and is going to make it a family tradition.