Searsport, July 11 The wind was blowing 15 to 20 out of the southwest at the start of a race between two of the fastest boats in the Maine lobster boat racing circuit. The water was rough, a condition that amplified risk for every mile per hour added on this east west course. Galen Alley, running his “Foolish Pleasure” and Ellery Alley, running “Underdog” discussed whether to run their race in the questionable weather conditions.
Galen Alley, the more experienced racer, told the Fishermen’s Voice that, “the conditions were pretty rough”. He said that after talking about sea conditions with Ellery Alley, Ellery said, “it’s on”, and they prepared for the start of the race. Galen pointed his boat at the radar gun down the course. The start boat with Mike Dassett at the helm and a flag man on board, was to the left of Ellery Alley in Underdog, Galen Alley in Foolish Pleasure was about 100 feet to Ellery’s right.
The flag went down, the race started and Galen said his boat was coming up out of the water, but landing flat. He looked left and saw Ellery’s Underdog, “coming at us,” at an angle, said Galen. “I was not opened up and I increased my speed and then went to wide open”, to get out of his way.”
Galen’s nephew was in the boat with him. He was looking at Galen from the back of the boat and pointing back toward Underdog. Galen said, “I looked back and he was behind us. He had dipped and rolled, but he never hit our sea. Ellery hit the same sea we hit. At one point he hit a trough beam to and the sudden stop threw him out of the boat. I wasn’t sure he was out of the boat. I saw the rescue boat coming with blue lights flashing. There was nothing more I was going to be able to do with the boat I was in. I continued on to the finish line, although slower because the water was rough.”
Ellery Alley described the conversation with Galen Alley before the race as very brief. Ellery confirmed the windy conditions and chop on the course. At that point Ellery said, “I went over to the line at the starter boat.” He said, Galen at that point was off to his right with his boat’s stern facing to shore.
The flag went down and “I touched her off,” said Ellery. He was almost instantly turning 6000 RPM. “Out of the corner of my eye right I saw Galen off to starboard. Everything is happening very fast.” Ellery said Foolish Pleasure was coming toward his bow at an angle, so close at one point, two feet by his estimation, that he could look into the cockpit of Foolish Pleasure. The water was forced up between the two boats in a burst of spray.
At that point said Ellery, he cut back the engine, and put down the wheel hard to port. The force of the water between the boats also pushed Underdog off to port. All these events, said Ellery, “happened in rapid succession.” Ellery’s sudden cutting back the throttle threw him forward against the bulkhead. Almost simultaneously the force of the water between the boats threw Underdog harder to port, which sent Ellery over the starboard side, back down into the water. At the same time Galen swung away to starboard and down the race course.
Ellery described being under water and trying to get to the surface. He also noticed that he was still holding in his hand one of the wood spokes which had broken off from the wheel when he was pitched over the side.
Ellery spent three days in the hospital, but injuries were limited to bruises and stiff limbs. “I think,” said Ellery, “there should have been some sort of apology.”
In the aftermath of the rapid unfolding of events there was , speculation that Galen lost control of Foolish Pleasure or that he was forcing Underdog off course. As is often the case with eyewitnesses, there have been several versions of what happened circulated.
Mike Dassett was in the start boat. Mike said, “I’ll take part of the blame, I wanted one of them on each side of the start boat”. Dassett could see conditions were rough. Galen and Ellery did not want to be separated. They wanted to run side by side in this competition. “I was not forceful enough, and I’ll take the blame for that, but only that”, said Dassett.
Dassett said he started the race slow, with the boats parallel, got them up to 17 MPH and was just ahead of the two boars when the flag was dropped. Ellery went off like a rocket said Dassett. Galen’s boat sputtered some, then he hooked up and took off.
Galen got a good start, but Underdog’s was better, and he beat Foolish Pleasure out of the hole.” Both were running a bit tipsy with the sea conditions. Galen began drifting to the left, “he had his hands full” said Dassett. Galen was fighting the wheel to keep from going left in a boat with not much keel and a lot of power.
Underdog has a full keel and runs straight, but he had to correct to the left as Galen drifted to the left. Underdog, said Dassett, “appeared to have a violent reaction to its correction, and may have hit an odd wave. As the spray burst up between the boats when they came within a couple of feet of each other, “Galen was putting a lot of right into that wheel”, said Dassett. That ‘s when Ellery was thrown out of Underdog. “It happened so fast. It was 15 seconds from start of the race to the flip. I was just 15 to 20 boat lengths away”, said Dassett.
“I don’t think Galen did anything intentionally wrong when he got going and took off. With the sea conditions his boat was moved over. There was a lot of power in a light boat, and not much of that boat in the water.” Dassett said,
“Galen backed off on the engine after Ellery flipped out of the boat”, said Dassett.
The race was recorded on video by friends of Ellery from one angle of view, and by friends of Galen from another angle of view. They taken from a distance, the focus us fuzzy, and because things happen quickly, repeated viewing is usually required. These videos are at the Fishermen’s Voice website: www.fishermensvoice.com
