“The race it rained like mad.”

That's how Jon Johansen, president of Maine Lobster Boat Racing, described the June 23 Bass Harbor lobster boat races, where 44 boats would line up to race.

The constant rain meant the speed of the winning boat in each race couldn't be determined. “It was nasty. All we did was take pictures and run for the cabin.”

The boat that a lot of racers and their fans were looking forward to possibly setting a new speed mark in race No. 8 (Gasoline Class E: Over 525 cubic inches, 28 feet and over, Turbos/ superchargers) or the Gasoline Free For All was Randy Durkee's Black Diamond.

The Holland 32 had been repowered with a "great big monster motor, an alcohol motor, rumored to be 2,000-hp, but he didn't perform as expected. We think it was because the gear was slipping," said Johansen.

Foolish Pleasure, a Custom Riley Beal 30, with an 800-hp, 550-cubic-inch Chevy, beat Black Diamond probably by “5 to 10 boat lengths” in the Gasoline Free For All. Foolish Pleasure holds the overall lobster boat speed record of 77.2 mph. 

In contrast, a boat that did "really well," says Johansen, was Wayne Rich's Rich Returns. It won Diesel Class B (up to 235 hp, 32 feet and over) and the Wooden Boat: 36 feet and over race. It was probably built in the 1980s by Wayne Rich's grandfather, Bobby Rich, a prolific builder of commercial and pleasure wooden boats at Bass Harbor Boat in Bass Harbor, Maine. The 32-footer ended up in Cape Cod, where Wayne Rich found it, brought it back to Maine, and rebuilt much of it this past winter. 

Obsession and Natalie E, two boats that were very competitive in Boothbay and Rockland in Diesel Class N(A): 40 feet and over, 751 to 1,000 hp, with each boat winning one race, went at it again, with "only like 2-feet separating the bows" at the finish line, said Johansen. Natalie E won that race.

The big winner of the day was Jeff Eaton's La Belle Vita, a Northern Bay 38 with an 815-hp FPT that won Diesel Class K: 701 to 900 hp, 28 feet and over, the Diesel Free for All and the Fastest Lobster Boat Race. Nick Wiberg's Witching Hour (Northern Bay 36, 815 hp) came in second in all three races.

To read the recap of the 2024 Boothbay and Rockland races, click HERE.