2020 lobster boat racing season wraps up; six races draw 379 competing boats

Maine’s 2020 lobster boat racing season, which began in June in Rockland and ended in August in Portland, was like no other. The continual threat of the coronavirus wiped out five races, leaving just six locations on the roster. The pandemic also affected the number of boats that showed up for some races.

A good example was Moosabec Reach with 81 lobster boats coming to the starting line this year, whereas it was 125 boats in 2019. Altogether, 379 boats showed up for the five races, though many of those raced at more than one event.

High Voltage pushes ahead of Bad Influence to win at Winter Harbor. Jon Johansen photo.

The Maine Lobster Boat Racing Association operates the races, with about 30 races held at each event, over a course averaging just under a mile long. The schedule at each location varies slightly, but a typical race day starts with the Class A Skiffs race, for skiffs 16 feet and under with outboards up to 30 hp, operator 18 years and under. There could be as many as three skiff races, based on engine type and horsepower. Those are followed by the Gas Powered Work Boat category for boats 24 feet and up. Since most fishermen’s boats are diesel powered, that’s the biggest racing category, with as many as 15 races, broken up by horsepower and boat size. It starts with race number nine, Diesel Class A — Up to 235 hp, 24 to 31 feet — and ends with Race 24 Class O — Non-working boats, any length, any horsepower.

The day generally concludes with gasoline and diesel free-for-alls, the World’s Fastest Lobster Boat race, followed by the World’s Fastest Recreational Lobster Boat race and maybe a race for the fastest lobster boat from whatever harbors where the races are being held.

Several classes had rivalries that carried over from one race to another. A good one was Diesel Class M(B) 40 feet and over, 501 to 750 hp with Kimberly Ann (Calvin Beal 42, 750-hp FPT) matched up against Alexa Rose (Morgan Bay 43, 750-hp John Deere). They competed against each other in all but one race with Kimberly Ann usually winning. She hit 39.2 mph at Rockland.

A race that got a lot of attention in Bass Harbor, Moosabec Reach and Winter Harbor was Diesel Class E 336 to 435 hp, 24 to 33 feet. Several boats were in the race class but the two to watch were High Voltage (AJ-28, 400-hp Yanmar) and Bad Influence (Holland 32, 350-hp Yanmar). They were “within a boat length of each other all the way up the course,” said Jon Johansen, president of Maine Lobster Boat Racing. Usually High Voltage dominated, hitting 40.3 mph at Moosabec Reach.

A crowd favorite is the fastest boat, Wild Wild West (West 28 with a 1,050-hp Isotta Fraschini). She’s not a working lobster boat, but that doesn’t matter. Wild Wild West’s fastest official time this year was 59.9 mph at Moosabec Reach’s World’s Fastest Recreational Lobster Boat Race races. Though unofficial, she was caught with a GPS reading of 63 mph, which, Johansen felt, was more accurate.

Kimberly Ann (right) and Alexa are ahead of the rest of the pack. Jon Johansen photo.

That same day, winner of the World’s Fastest Working Lobster Boat went to Dana Beal’s Right Stuff (Libby 34 with a 500-hp Cummins) at 42.9 mph. However, that’s because Blue Eyed Girl (Morgan Bay 38, 900-hp Scania) wasn’t there. Blue Eyed Girl, — which races in Diesel Class K 701 to 900 hp, 28 feet and over — has consistently been the fastest working lobster boat on this year’s racing circuit, with a top speed of 49.4 mph at the Portland races.

Maine Lobster Boat Racing isn’t NASCAR, so there’s no big financial payday at the end of the season for those with the fastest boats, men and women who put a fair amount of money into their engine to get a lot more horsepower than is necessary to haul lobster traps. Just the pleasure of being in the middle of a pack of boats with screaming engines and your hand firmly on the throttle that’s jammed down hard. That’s what a lot of Maine lobstermen look forward to.