2011 Photos & News

PPH Article

Hoping for fair seas and a healthy wind, sailors test themselves in the annual run from Falmouth to Monhegan

By J. Hemmerdinger jhemmerdinger@pressherald.com Staff Writer

FALMOUTH - Some sailors run a straight course, called a rhumb line, directly to Monhegan Island.

Skipper Peter Price, left , guides Big Dog Party out of Portland Harbor on Friday, bound for Monhegan Island. “It will be challenging to keep the boats going” in the light winds, he said.

Photos by Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Snowbird, right, skippered by Jon Randall, Arbacia, center, skippered by Geoff Emanuel, and County Girl, skippered by Bill Newberry, head out of Portland Harbor on Friday to begin the 77th annual Monhegan Race. “This race epitomizes the earlier era,” Emanuel said. “This is the granddaddy of them all.”

Others turn inshore or off, searching for a favorable wind or current.

The goal is the same: to race under sail for 103 nautical miles on a course that leads to Monhegan and back.

The 77th annual Monhegan Race kicked off a few minutes after 1 p.m. Friday, when 36 sailboats in six divisions crossed the start line in Hussey Sound near Falmouth. Minutes later the boats passed south of Long Island and headed into the open Atlantic.

There were 1-to-2-foot seas as the boats departed and the wind blew light from the southwest, conditions that could mean slow sailing for the fleet.

"It will be challenging to keep the boats going," said skipper Peter Price while prepping the boat Big Dog Party at the Portland Yacht Club in Falmouth before the race.

"We'll average 5 to 6 knots," said Price, whose boat has a 70-foot mast and a nine-member crew.

Eleven boats in three divisions --vessels with names like Arbacia, Resolute, Go Dog Go and Country Girl -- are competing in the Monhegan run.

The course takes the boats south from Hussey Sound to near Biddeford Pool, then northeast to Monhegan and back to Casco Bay.

Other vessels in different divisions are competing in shorter runs. Some are racing in an 83-nautical-mile run that also reaches Monhegan, while others will sail 67 nautical miles to Seguin Island off Popham Beach State Park.

The race is one in a series coordinated by the Gulf of Maine Ocean Racing Association.

The boats will sail overnight and, if the wind cooperates, will likely complete the race in about 20 hours. If the boats hit doldrums, however, the trip could take much longer.

Veteran sailors describe the Monhegan Race as a legendary event -- a throwback to the heyday of long-distance sailboat races.

"This race epitomizes the earlier era," said Geoff Emanuel, who skippers Arbacia, a Nordic 40 sailboat. "This is the granddaddy of them all."

Emanuel said racers these days tend to prefer shorter runs, which is one reason the number of boats in the event has dropped from 110 in the 1970s to this year's 36.

"Racing is down," he said. "It's time, not money. No one wants to commit a whole weekend."

Only a handful of other long-distance races remain, including the 360-nautical-mile Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race, the Chicago Yacht Club's 333-mile Race to Mackinac, and the mythic 635-mile Newport Bermuda Race. There's also the 100-mile Northeast Harbor Race on Aug. 26 from Portland to Mount Desert Island.

Sailors say the demands of the open-ocean Monhegan Race keep them in the game.

"The most challenging part is the weather," said Price, noting that the crew must constantly adjust to changes in the speed and direction of the wind and current.

Sometimes sailors hug the coast in search of a stronger breeze. All use the tide to their advantage.

"The current can be hard to predict. It can make or break a race," said Richard Stevenson, who won last year's race and is skipper of Buzz.

And overnight sailing can be exhilarating. With no city light, the ocean can be pitch-black.

"Sometimes you spot a mast light, but usually you don't see other boats," said Price's 19-year-old daughter and crew member Eliza Price.

Other times, the Milky Way reflects off the sea, Emanuel said, adding that crews form unique bonds on long-distance trips.

"There's nothing like putting 10 people on a boat, which is a pretty confined space, for 24 or 36 hours," he said. "The conversations, the jokes, the stories -- you just can't do that ashore."

The Monhegan boats are expected to cross the finish line near Hussey Sound sometime tomorrow, but because each boat has a different handicap, crews don't know who is leading until the race ends.

Winners receive a trophy -- there is no cash prize.

But Emanuel called the thrill of victory the ultimate award.

"The exhilaration is impossible to describe," he said.

Jonathan Hemmerdinger can be reached at 791-6316 or at:

jhemmerdinger@mainetoday.com

Points East Monhegan Article

8-28-2011

Title: Monhegan/Manana/Seguin Races Monhegan Race--The largest, longest, and oldest offshore racing event on the Maine Coast

The 77th Monhegan Race kicked off in Hussey Sound in Casco Bay Maine a few minutes after 1 p.m. on Friday, August 12, with 36 sailboats in 6 divisions. The racers headed south under sunny skies and 10 + knots of breeze before they rounded the first mark south of Biddeford Pool. The racers were treated to a beautiful full moon, shooting stars, whales, challenging winds and fantastic competitive sailing.

Pete Price from Freeport Maine skippered Big Dog Party to an early Saturday afternoon finish and won Division 1 on corrected time. Pete contributed this year’s successful win to varying factors; a clean first row start, crew’s light air expertise, boat being optimized for light air conditions and an overall racing strategy to keep the boat moving at all costs. This was Pete’s 26th Monhegan race finish and had previously won the Double handed class twice.

Pete said “by the time we got to the 1st mark we had a pretty good lead with Kaos dangerously close which kept the crew focused”. Pete’s crew includes his daughter, Eliza, a sophomore sailor on the Women’s Connecticut College sailing team along with other students from Tufts University, The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and the University of Michigan.

Resolute skipped by Fred Madeira from Falmouth Maine won 3rd place in Division 1. His crew included 8 college students from Colby, Bates, Tufts and Middlebury colleges. Fred said “the energy and enthusiasm was intense and the race was a memorable sailing event for everyone on board!”

The Double-handed is the largest division with 11 boats ranging from a Sabre 32 to a Hinckley SW 42. Frank Alexander from Yarmouth Maine, 2nd place winner, raced Salu a J120 with his 15 year old son Sam who navigated the 67 miles. Frank said “I love the double-handed division because it keeps you so busy”. They experienced shifty winds and caught up with the Division A and B boats just before the 1st mark. Frank explained “the changing wind provided dramatic lead changes, new opportunities and lots of competitive company around the 1st mark and during the long downwind leg Friday night. Every so often we would hear Snowbird crank up their tunes in the night…those guys have fun!”

Early Saturday morning Salu caught up with 1st place winner, Spitfire, a J122 skippered by Ben duPont from Rockland Maine who was becalmed. Frank thought if the wind filled in from the sea Salu would get it first and beat Spitfire on corrected time. However, the wind filled in gently from behind and Salu finished 2nd. Frank said “the guys on Spitfire sailed a great race, very consistent and fast.”

The crew, racers and family members were treated to a Sunday morning pancake breakfast and awards ceremony at Portland Yacht Club. Pete Price and crew accepted their 4 awards including the prestigious Walter S. Hammons Trophy. Pete told his crew after the race that "wanting to win seldom leads to winning, sailing well often leads to winning” Pete further explained “unfortunately sailboat racing has a only one winner attitude that discounts the lessons that we should be paying attention to every day. With the need for instant gratification in today's society few are willing to do the work it takes to be consistently successful because the idea of success is too narrow.”

Results are:

Division 1

1st place

Big Dog Party, Pete Price

2nd place

Buzz, Rich Stevenson

3rd place

Resolute, Fred Madeira

Division 2

1st place

Kaos, Scott Smithwick

2nd place

Arabica, Geoff Emanuel

3rd place

Snowbird, Jon Randall

Division Multihull

1st place

Sorn, Jesse Deupree

Division Double Handed

1st place

Spitfire, Ben duPont

2nd place

Salu, Frank Alexander

3rd place

Milady, Kris Jennings

Division Manana

1st place

Seven, Tom Hall

2nd place

Greyhawk, Timothy Allen

3rd place

Impulse, John Wilkinson

Division Seguin

1st place

Morning Star, Jim Palmer

2nd place

Alcid, Frank Adshead

3rd place

Southern Cross, Loader & Hudson

Seguin Island Trophy (First Overall Seguin Island Course):

Morning Star, Jim Palmer

Abbott Fletcher Trophy (First Overall Manana Island Course):

Seven, Tom Hall

Midget Ocean Racing Trophy (First to Finish Manana Island Course):

Seven, Tom Hall

James R. Flaker Memorial Trophy (first PYC boat to finish Manana):

Seven, Tom Hall

Amaryllis Trophy (First Overall Multihull):

Sorn, Jesse Jeupree

Frank H. Soule Memorial Trophy (First Overall Yacht, Monhegan Class C Double

Handed Course):

Spitfire, Ben duPont

Douglas R. Coleman Memorial Trophy (First Overall Monhegan B Course):

Kaos, Scott Smithwick

George E. Ford Navigator’s Trophy (First to Finish Monhegan B Class):

Kaos, Scott Smithwick

Walter S. Hammons (First Overall Monhegan Course):

Big Dog Party, Pete Price

Maine Coast Fisherman’s Trophy (First to Finish Monhegan A Class):

Big Dog Party, Pete Price

Edward B. Mason Trophy (First Maine Resident Overall Monhegan

Course):

Big Dog Party, Pete Price

Sabre Yachts Trophy (best performance by a Sabre Yacht):

Milady, Kris Jennings

FMI and complete results: www.gmora.org