Friendship Lobster Boat Races
by Sam Murfitt

1st Team, right, leading the pack at Friendship. Taking up the rear, right to left, Miss Jodie, Late Start, and Lashing Out. Sam Murfitt photo

Friendship, not wanting to break the mold, began the day with heavy fog which delayed the race until ll am when the harbor cleared. Wes Lash and his committee started the races on a perfect sunny Maine summer's day. In quick order, the four skiffs races were run with two familiar names; in Class A (16' and under, 12 years and younger) Gavin Holland in Baby Baron, a Holland 14 raced with his grandfather Glen to beat Roger Feltis in Cut Short and Nicholas Poland in Spare Change. In Class B, Richard Hildings in his Holland 14, Not Much led Matt Winston in Miller Lite, Larry Wallace in Cloud, Chris Carter in Pump-can and Mark Sykes in Sasha. Class C (61-90 horsepower skiffs) was won by Cup Cake owned by Glen Barbor at 38 mph over Scott Cleaves in FYJIMO followed by David Starr, Sr. winning Class D unopposed.

The five gas powered Classes A – E, Crybaby and D&L Boatworks continued their domination by winning Class A unopposed. Class B, was won by Phillip Genthner in M. Crack N followed by Wayne Woodman in Maybe, second; and Gabe Gilchrest in Wet Dream, third. In Class C and D, David Lash in Sea Flea and Galen Alley in Foolish Pleasure ran unopposed in their classes respectively. There were no entrants in Class E.

David Lash in Sea Flea won unopposed in the wooden boat class.

Good turnout in the twelve Diesel Powered Classes made for some of the more interesting races of the season. Starting with Class A, Charles Gray in Blue Thunder led Gary Clifford in Destini to the finish line at 29.7 mph to firm up his hold on Class A for the season. In Class B Paula Jean Lunt in Endurance led the rest of the class down the course with Mathew Taylor finishing second in Tracey Cole; followed by Michael Simmons in Ol' Girl, third; Holligan, fourth and Ryan Maines in Two Girls, fifth. David Grant's Venom driven by Travis Otis, took the lead in Diesel Class C at 38.1 mph over stiff competition from Miss Attitude (Marshall Farnham) second and Raymond Carter in Who's Buyin, third, with Marshall Farnham holding the lead for the season. There were no entrants in Diesel Class D.

In Diesel Class E, Minor Debt (Chris Hutchinson) with an STP 400 hp engine finished just ahead of Greg Havener in Emily going 34.4 mph. Bill Grant, in his new Crowley/Beal 36, ran unopposed for his fourth first of the season. In Class G, Gary Genthner in Lisa Marie ran at 32.5 mph to beat Arnold Benner in Becky Jean 2 which gives him 28 points for the season second to Tod Richie in Sea Cock with 40 points 1st Team and Travis Otis led Class H for the day and for the season with 50 points over Jeremy Wiley in Miss Jodi, second; Scott Carter in Late Start, third; Frank Guptill in Dawn Marie, fourth and Samuel Lash in Lashing Out, fifth.

Diesel Class I, Chip Johnson in Three Stars, (the only boat to race with a steadying sail) ran unopposed at 36.3 mph to improve his position against Wild One for the season. Jim Minott in Hooked Up making his first appearance for the season in the competitive Class J, took first at 38.7 mph over Matthew Briggs in Hey Baby, second; David Haskell in Molly Ryan, third; and Ernest Wallace in Reel Catch, fourth and Ryan Haskell in Decadence, fifth. Tom Clemens, getting good speed out of Motivation going 42.1 mph, bested Cecily K (Andrew Havener) in Class K.

There were no entrants in Class L. Jami Lee (Gregory Simmons) and Big Dipper (Isaac Lash) both carrying 600hp Duetz engines, went 27.7 mph to finish Class M first and second. Andy Johnson in the highly competitive Class N, drove Whistling Dixie 44.5 mph to beat Heather and Isaac (Keith Simmons) to wrap up his class for the season with 50 points. With a larger showing than in the last few years of Friendship boats, there was a big turnout for the Fastest Friendship Lobster Boat Race which Keith Simmons in Heather and Isaac, won over David Lash in Sea Flea, Gregory Havener in Emily, Ernest Wallace in Real Catch, Samuel Lash in Lashing Out and Arnold Benner in Becky Jean 2. Continuing on to the Gasoline Free For All, with two die hard competitors racing, Galen Alley in Foolish Pleasure, 1200+hp, ran 61.4 mph for the day's record outpacing the far outgunned Cry Baby, 250+hp, (D&L Boatworks) which ran at 32.4 mph.

Four boats entered the Diesel Free For All with Whistling Dixie coming out on top in a close race with Motivation at 44.6 mph with 1st Team third, Jami Lee fourth, and the US Coast Guard cleaning up the diesel fumes left over. In an anticlimactic Friendship World's Fastest Lobster Boat Race, Galen Alley beat Whistling Dixie at 49 mph with Motivation third and 1st Team fourth for the finish of the day.