Sunday, Aug. 11 marked the 8th race in Maine’s 2024 Lobster Boat Racing season. That was the Pemaquid Merritt Brackett races, named after a local engine mechanic. The previous day’s races at Winter Harbor were cancelled due to inclement weather but have been rescheduled for Sunday, Aug. 25.
Forty-eight boats raced at Pemaquid. Add that to the previous seven races and this year’s total race-boat count is 475. Three races remain: Long Island, Portland and Winter Harbor.
Pemaquid was the only race this year where fewer boats raced than in 2023, when 56 lobster boats came to the starting line. It was also the first race without any boats entered in any the three gasoline classes — Four- and six-cylinder gas, 24-feet and over; Gas V-8 any cubic inch, 24-feet and over; Gas V8 modified.
Offering an explanation for the lack of gas-powered lobster boats in the Pemaquid races and their low attendance in previous races, Jon Johansen, president of Maine Lobster Boat Racing, says, “diesels last longer and gas wasn’t built for that kind of torture,” referring to racing.
There are exceptions: Steve Johnson’s Lynn Marie (Sisu 26, 632 Chevy) and Mark Freeman’s Foolish Pleasure (Custom Riley Beal 30, with an 800-hp, 550-cubic-inch Chevy). Foolish Pleasure holds the overall lobster boat speed record of 77.2 mph.
The lack of boats in the gasoline classes didn’t affect the spectator turnout. Johansen said there were 200 to 300 spectators lined up near the Pemaquid fort to watch the races and “probably a couple hundred spectator boats.”
A good race for all spectators was Race 13 (Diesel, 651 to 800-hp,28 feet and over) that featured Shooting Star (Northern Bay 36, 750-hp John Deere) and Mean Kathleen (Wayne Beal 36, 700-hp Scania). Historically those boats have been very close and sometimes it comes down to “whoever jumped the line first, stayed ahead,” said Johansen. In this case it was Shooting Star who took first at 39.8 mph, with Mean Kathleen hitting 38 mph. Regency (Calvin Beal 38, 800-hp Scania) took third.
Some of the top diesel boats were missing. Jeff Eaton’s La Belle Vita (Northern Bay 36, 815-hp FPT) had cooling issues that couldn’t be fixed in time to race. Jeremy Beal’s Maria’s Nightmare II (Wayne Beal 32, 1,000-hp Isotta) blew a head gasket, and Matt Shepherd’s Alexa Rose (Morgan Bay 43, 750-hp John Deere) blew its engine, though not while racing. When Alexa Rose shows up again to race reportedly it will come with a 1,000-hp diesel.
Without any of those boats for competition, the winner of the last two races of the day, Diesel Free-for-All and the Fastest Lobster Boat Afloat, was Gary Genthner’s Lil’ Lisa Maria (Mussel Ridge 28, 600-hp FPT). Matched up against five other boats in the Diesel Free-for-All, Lil’ Lisa Maria crossed the line first at 42 mph with Mean Kathleen second (38 mph) and Shooting Star third.
In the Fastest Lobster Boat Afloat, Lil’ Lisa Maria moved the speed up a notch to 43 mph – then Shooting Star and Mean Kathleen witched the order of the previous race, with Shooting Star second and Mean Kathleen third.
