Boothbay RHS sailors traveled to Rockland for the second time in a week for the second Pen Bay Regatta of the season. Teams from Islesboro, Camden Hills, Rockland, and Portland faced off with Boothbay on a windy race course in 3 on 3 boat matches.

It was a wild day at times with too much wind in the usual race area, so the course was set close to land and the dock making for great spectating. This provided slight relief in wind strength. Winds were 15-18 knots with higher gusts and a top recorded gust of 26 knots. The breeze also featured sudden shifts, with the nominal westerly swinging west/northwest and west/southwest. The sun was warm and if capsizing weren’t an imminent threat, the drysuits could have been left ashore.

There were three rounds of matches in which each team raced each other. A total of 30 races were completed with each team racing twelve times. The senior-laden Camden team had a weight and experience advantage and compiled a record of 11 wins and 1 loss. Boothbay handled the conditions well and gave Camden its only loss in their last match of the day. Boothbay finished with 10 wins and 2 losses. Boothbay struggled in its first two matches against Camden Hills which managed to force over the start line early the A boat sailed by Boothbay’s Ella Beauregard and Hamilton Barclay. They got wise to the Camden plan in race three and won convincingly with a score of 7-14.

Islesboro was beating Camden in two of their three matches coming up to the finish, but had the jib tack pin fall out resulting in an overboard crew and DNF. Islesboro lost its final match against Camden in last second maneuvers at the finish line dashing Boothbay’s hope for a win. Islesboro ended the day third overall with a 6-6 record, followed by Rockland and Portland.

Nate Graves and Nate Rideout demonstrated marked improvement sailing for Boothbay. All three Boothbay boats won races throughout the day.

There were at least a dozen capsizes, including Boothbay’s Nolan Conlin and Andrea Gutierrez prior to the start sequence of race 1. This had no effect as the pair quickly righted the boat. Several collisions occurred in the difficult conditions. Boats exonerated themselves so no DSQs. Weary sailors by the end were fed hot dogs and burgers by families of the RCS team.

Boothbay RHS travels to Castine this weekend for the Downeast Regatta with Nate Rideout and Nolan Conlin skippering boats. The final Pen Bay event will see a showdown between Islesboro and Boothbay just a half point behind. The winner will most likely win the Pen Bay series outright.

Boothbay RHS Sailing team is supported by a grant from the BHYC Junior Program Foundation, the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club, and the Boothbay RHS.