With a fairly steady North wind of about 12 knots and under an overcast sky, a 20-boat fleet headed down Penobscot Bay on a 19.4 mile course to Camden in the 27th annual Castine Classic Yacht Race. “It was a good sail and a surprisingly tight race to Camden,” according to Race Chairman David Bicks. A number of other boats registered for the race cancelled because of a troublesome weather forecast which did not materialize.
The Classic A class was won by Gentian, a 1936 Sparkman & Stephens designed New York 32, skippered by Ben Sperry, less than a minute in front of Siren, another New York 32 sailed by Peter Cassidy. The 56’ Davis/Nevins design Polly sailed by Peter Gallant came in third just 5 minutes later, closely followed by Viola, owned by Kostia Belkin, a 1908 design by William Fife of Scotland from the Yacht Club of Monaco, an honored guest this year at the race. Classic B was won by Easterly, a Sparkman & Stephens design owned by David Kriegel, followed by the S class Mischief sailed by A. Carta and R. Roy and the yawl Palawan sailed by Scott Gazelle.
In the combined Classic A and B classes, Easterly took honors and was awarded the Ames Cup, given in memory of the Ames family that hailed from Castine. Their two sons were lost off the Grand Banks in an unsuccessful effort to save their father who was washed overboard in the 1935 Newport to Bergen, Norway race.
The Hawk, a Tripp 37 skippered by Øivind Lorentzen won the Spirit of Tradition class followed by Outlier, a Botin 55 skippered by Harvey Jones. Zingara, a 45’ Stephens Waring design skippered by Robert W. Stephens, came in third.
On the afternoon before the race a Symposium celebrated Maine’s extraordinary boatbuilding now in progess. The Symposium panel, moderated by Gary Jobson, featured representatives of Maine’s boatbuilders including Alec Brainerd of Artisan Boatworks, Will Sturdy of Brooklin Boatyard, Lance Buchanan of Lyman-Morse and Sam Temple of Rockport Marine.
The following pictures may be published with credit to Kathy Mansfield, noted marine photographer and writer. Further photos can be seen in the Castine Regatta galleries.
Start of Classic B
Easterly, 45’ Sparkman & Stephens design, winner of Classic B
Viola, 41’06” 1908 Fife design, honored visitor from Yacht Club of Monaco
Gentian, New York 32, winner of Classic A
The Hawk, Tripp 37 design, winner of Spirit of Tradition
Presentation of half model of Viola to (l) David Bicks, chairman of Castine Classic Yacht Regatta, and Fred Doane (r), Commodore of Castine Yacht Club, by Kostia Belkin (center), owner of Viola
