Castine Celebrates Herreshoff
Castine, ME --- Silent Maid, a 39’ Barnegat Bay catboat, built in 2009 and sailed by Peter Kellogg, bested the fleet in the 20th annual Castine Classic Yacht Race to Camden, sponsored by the Castine Yacht Club.
The Castine event kicked off three days of classic boat racing, culminating in the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta.
Under clear skies and a dying northwest breeze moving to the southwest, thirty-six boats set sail from the Castine harbor bell on a 19.6nm course ending off Curtis Island in Camden. Because of a dying wind and a turning tide, the race was shorted to about 11nm ending at Mouse Island. Sailing in Classic B Class, Silent Maid nipped Isla, a 45’ New York 32 sailed by Henry May, by a mere 9 seconds. Neith, a 53’ Herreshoff built in 1907, sailed by Van Brown, took third place among the classic classes.
In the Classic A fleet, Isla and Neith were followed by The Hawk, a 38’ Tripp design, built in 1968 and sailed by Olvind Lorentzen.
In Classic B, Silent Maid was followed by Otter, a 41’ Concordia built in 1954, sailed by Robert Keefer. Palawan, a 47.3’ Sparkman & Stephens yawl built in 1952, sailed by Scott Gazelle, took third place.
The Classic C fleet was led by the gaff sloop Alera, the first of the 43.5’ Herreshoff New York 30 class, built in 1904 and sailed by Claas van der Linde. Finali, a 38.3’ S&S sloop built in 1949, sailed by Gregg Knighton, placed second, followed by Thetis, a 26’ Herreshoff Alerion built in 2008, sailed by Alden Brewster.
In the Spirit of Tradition class, Vortex, a 52’, 55 square meter sloop skippered by Steve White, took honors, leading Blackfish, a Taylor 49 sailed by Ron Zarella, and Outlier, a Botin 55 built in 2019, sailed by Harvey Jones.
The race celebrated the iconic designs of NG Herreshoff, with an exhibition at the Castine town dock of nine Herreshoff boats and a symposium at Maine Maritime Academy chaired by Bill Lynn, Executive Director of the Herreshoff Marine Museum/America’s Cup Hall of Fame, featuring a panel of distinguished Herreshoff sailors and experts. Before a packed audience at the Delano Auditorium, Benjamin Mendlowitz, received the prestigious W.P. Stephens Award from Steve White, Director of Mystic Seaport, in recognition of his significant contribution to American yachting. The Commodore of the Castine Yacht Club, John Zoller, also paid special tribute to David Bicks for twenty years of leadership of the annual Castine Classic celebration.
As overall winner, the Ames cup was awarded to Silent Maid. The Ames Cup honors the memory of Richard Glover Ames and Henry Russel Ames who were lost at sea on June 19th, 1935 south of the Grand Banks in an unsuccessful effort to save their father who was washed overboard during the Newport to Bergen, Norway, yacht race. The Ames family hailed from Castine.
The Sparkman & Stephens trophy, awarded to the S&S yacht with lowest corrected time, was won by Isla. The Phalarope Trophy, awarded to the top Concordia yawl in memory of Thomas G. Ashton, Sr, was won by Otter.
(Photos credit Kathy Mansfield.)
Herreshoff exhibition at Castine town dock
Silent Maid, overall winner of the 2019 Castine Classic Yacht Race
Start of Classic A
