Venom, Gladiator and Hooked Up
Continue to Dominate Race Scene
by Nancy Beal

The Richard Weaver built Lorna R engine. The gas engine hauled the Lorna R over the line first a few times so far this year. Photo:Sam Murfitt Photo ©

The racing season continued July 4 with the second venue in Moosabec Reach. Of the seven gas-powered boats that raced, the free-for-all which pitted Galen Alley in the Lorna R. against Ernest Libby in the Underdog was the best contest in the division. Each had won its class: Libby in Gas E and Alley in Class D. Alley got 44.3 mph out of his Weaver-built monster engine and easily outsteamed Libby, going 39.2. In the world’s fastest race, the Lorna R. registered 53.6 mph on the radar gun operated by a sheriff’s deputy on the bridge. That speed was thought to be an unofficial record for a lobster boat in Moosabec Reach.

Libby was expected to challenge Alley again at Friendship July 29 and at Harpswell the following day. After July 4, the garage mechanics who built her engine from a big block Chevy pulled her out of the water and went to work applying spray rails, replacing the rudder with a thinner one made of stainless steel, and installing a manual hydraulic helm to eliminate the stabilization problem that one mechanic dubbed the Underdog’s “high speed shuffle.” They also made an all-night trip to Kittery to bring home a trailer that would be the boat’s means of transportation to the next two venues.

In Diesel E, Bill Grant logged his third straight win, pushing the Gladiator to 41 mph ahead of Scott Carter’s Lez & Greg and Kenton Feeney’s Terry Luan at Friendship.

In Gas Class A, Joe McDonald’s Catherine & Joseph led the pack ahead of James Robinson Jr.’s unnamed craft and Braden Alley in Hayley Marie. There were no entrants in Class B. In Class C, Shawn Alley in Jennifer Lee and Merle Beal in Silver Dollar finished behind Libby. Galen Alley was uncontested in Class D, and there were no entrants in Class E.

Christopher Beal’s Little Ladies outsailed Patrick Kelley in Diesel Class A. Race starter Steve Carver’s Bigger Dirls won the Class B race, followed by Brent Davis in Hee Haw, Ronald Carver in Mr. T, and father-son duo Earle and Jason Faulkingham in Bobbi Jo & Bud and Hannah & Taylor.

David Grant’s Venom logged her second Class C win of the season. Matthew Merchant in Little Ugly was second, and Brian Strout’s Annie Belle came in third. Winifred Alley’s Sara Victoria placed first in Class D, followed by Thurman Alley in the Melanie Jean and Oscar Beal in Papa’s Pride. Bill Grant’s Gladiator was unchallenged in Class E, earning him his second win in as many races.

Parts of race day are wild and loud, others good for hang around kid stuff.

In Class F, Jim Minott, churning 36.5 mph in Hooked Up, and Travis Otis in First Team logged the same first and second finishes they had at Boothbay, and Jeffrey Alley was third in Nawthin To It. Todd Ritchie’s Seacock, last year’s cup winner, had no opposition in Class G, and Ira Guptill’s Mystery Machine, which won last year’s Class H class, won her race, followed by Alan Taylor in Taylor Made, Herbert Smith in the Linda Mavis II, and Jeffrey Libby piloting his father’s Leona.

There were no entrants in Classes I, K, and L, and Jeff Alley Jr.’s Fairwinds commanded Class J when Keegan Beal in Megalexa was disqualified. Billy Bob Faulkingham’s 51, doing 30.2 mph, notched her second win of the season in Class M, outdistancing Dixon Smith in Size Matters, Dana Rice in Unpredictable, and Loren Faulkingham in Divine Providence. John Drouin was unopposed in Class N, and his Rebbie’s Mistress, clocked at 32.6 mph, steamed to her second win of the year.
  
Hooked Up registered 37.6 mph on the radar gun as she won the diesel free-for-all. Seacock, Mystery Machine and 51 followed her over the finish line.