Sunday, June 23, was a good day for racing at Bass Harbor. Seventy-seven boats showed up to race, eight more than in 2018, and there was also a large spectator fleet. It was the third race in Maine’s 2019 lobster boat racing season. The previous weekend, races were held at Boothbay and Rockland.

One of the most competitive races at all three events was Diesel Class M(B), which is for boats 40 feet and over with engines rated between 501 and 750 horsepower.

At each location, the race pitted Miss Amity, an Osmond 42 with a 700-hp Scania, against Kimberly Ann, a Calvin 42 with a 750-hp FPT and a new boat, the Hannah Louise, a Calvin 42 with a 750-hp John Deere.

The previous weekend at both Boothbay Harbor and Rockland, the three boats had been almost bow-to-bow at the finish line. At Boothbay, Miss Amity took it at 36.2 mph, followed by Hannah Louise and Kimberly Ann. At Rockland, again it was Miss Amity at 36.9 mph, but Kimberly Ann was next and Hannah Louise third.

In the finals of the Bass Harbor class M(B) race, it came down to who got the jump at the start. That was Kimberly Ann, which was first across the line at 36 mph, about 10 feet in front of Miss Amity, with Hannah Louise not quite a boat length back.

Racing superfans also get charged about the Diesel Free For All and the Fastest Lobster Boat races, especially when Wild Wild West, a West 28 with a 1,050-hp Isotta, is running. Motivation is a Northern Bay 38 with a 1,000-hp Caterpillar and Wild Wild West’s primary competition in the Diesel Free For All and the Fastest Lobster Boat races.

In both races, Motivation couldn’t get past Wild Wild West, which won the first race at 56 mph and the Fastest Lobster Boat race at 55 mph.

Now it’s on to Beals Island and Jonesport for the Moosabec Reach races this coming Saturday, June 29.