Harpswell
by Sam Murfitt

Temptation in the foreground goin' at it with Jennifer Ann in Harpswell. Sam Murfitt photo

Harpswell started with perfect weather, a light breeze and no fog. Generously organized by Roy and Deborah Knight with help from the Johnson Family, a total of 19 of 23 classes were raced from the float in the center of the harbor.

In the skiff classes, Class A was run without the front runner, Galvin Holland, and won by Hooting and Hollering. In Class B, there were two boats with Zippy taking first. In Class C, Cathy Fisher won in Seaside Treasure, leading Two Dubs with Streak third. In Class D, Dave Johnson took the honors in Casco Mist with Nick Irish driving Nothing Yet and Lindsey Anne coming in third.

In the Gasoline powered boats, Class A started off with Cry Baby running unopposed and clinching their title for the season. In Class B, two boats ran the course, Lizzie, a Willis Beal 38, bested The Isle of Sky, owned by Hank Thornbun. Bruce Engert's Thunderbolt ran unopposed in Class C, finishing in a leisurely fashion. With Galen Alley absent, there was no race in Class D. Stevie Johnson made his first appearance in the races this summer in Too Wild, his tandem-engined speedster, to run unopposed in Class E.

In the Diesel powered boats, there were 11 Classes with Class B, G and L having no entries. In Class A, Uptown Girl bested Papa's Pride. With good competition in Class C between Eric deDoes' Buoysticks.com and Marshall Farnham's Miss Attitude, deDoes won at 33 mph. In Class D, the long black sleek Willis Beal built, Lizzie, bested Susan Maria at 15 mph. The return this year of Gladiator, with a new owner and driven by imported gunslinger Stevie Johnson, has not stopped them from winning in Class E, beating Katie Jane.

One of the largest starts today was Class F with five boats won by Mrs. Rose making the farthest trip of the day from Rye, NH beating KEII, Optical Illusion, No Name and Ryan's Will. Dorothy K ran unopposed in Class H. The powerful Class I was a good race with Wild One taking first, Chip Johnson's Three Stars taking second and the newly built Misty taking third.

Class J had another large start for the day, with Bill Hallinan's Apparition taking honors over Jere Greene's Jennifer Ann second, David Haskell's Molly Ryan third and Ryan Haskell's Decadent fourth. Motivation and Tom Clemens ran unopposed in Class K. Class M and N were run together with Temptation winning over Jennifer Ann in the former and Whistling Dixie over Bailey Bella in the large Class.

For the final three races, in the Gas Free For All, Stevie Johnson's double engined, Too Wild went 31 mph to beat Thunderbolt, second and D&L Boatworks' Cry Baby, third. With five boats entered in the Diesel Free For All, hometown's favorite Andy Johnson's Whistling Dixie went 43 mph to beat Motivation in second, Bill Hallinan's Apparition II in third, Chip Johnson's Three Stars in fourth and Stevie Johnson's Wild One in fifth. In the Harpswell Fastest Lobster Boat Free For All, Andy Johnson's Whistling Dixie repeated at 37 mph with Tom Clemon's Motivation coming in second and Chip Johnson's Three Stars third.