Those present at the January hearing included some 45 racers, boatbuilders, interested others and two Coast Guard officers. Clive Farrin, of Boothbay Harbor, Chairman of the Oversight Committee, moderated the meeting well, according to those present, and with good humor. In fact, wry humor kept the debate from deteriorating into rancor, which might also have had a dite to do with the last-minute setting: the soft, romantic lighting of Jordan’s Restaurant, and the ready availability of hot coffee and other drinks.
Farrin first suggested forming a Maine lobsterboat racing association, primarily in order to qualify for a liability insurance policy, and said $500 had been pledged “to help us get started.” While he could not give a ballpark figure of the cost of such a policy, Farrin said that in light of liability, “even if [insurance] is cost-prohibitive, I still think it’s a good idea to form an association. It’s the ripple effect: this is the outer edges of where you throw the rock into the calm pond.”
Dana Rice, of Birch Harbor, disagreed, saying, “If you form an association and don’t get the insurance, you have a target for someone to go after” to which Farrin replied, “we’re just trying to insure the people on the Oversight Committee.”
The next issue, honesty of declaration – truth in advertising, so to speak – brought much discussion.
“In each points race,” Farrin suggested, “ahead of the finish line we should provide a barge or float with a team of inspectors on it. The first three boats [in any race] go nowhere but directly to that barge or float. If you say you’ve got 300 horsepower and the inspector says, ‘Oh, no, this is more than that,’ you’re disqualified.”
Just who would make up the inspection team was left unanswered for the moment, but Wesley Shute, of Stockton Springs, mentioned that there would always be loopholes and said, to much laughter, “I know: I raced Benny Beal a lot of times.” Beal is a legendary lobsterboat racer from Beals Island.
Ultimately, the inspection team-at-the-finish-line-rule was voted down for the time being, because it would be just too hard to implement.
A discussion of the pros and cons of demanding a qualified owner-operator at the helm at all times followed, and brought forth so many objections that those present voted to change the wording. They agreed that at sanctioned points races, all boats 24 feet and over would require a qualified operator at the helm at all times and that two qualified people be on board at all times.
The most voluble discussion of the afternoon centered on various modifications and the placement of engines. Modifications included the tweaking of engines: not 25 horsepower or so, but hundreds of horsepower over the number stamped on the engine, taking things out of boats to lighten them, and sporting modifications such as replacing a working pothauler with a windshield wiper motor rigged to a PVC davit. “It doesn’t haul,” admitted Glenn Crawford, of C & C Machine, in Ellsworth, with a laugh, “but it looks good.”
“You should be able to work that hauler on race day,” declared Farrin, but Sidney Eaton, of Stonington, took issue with him. Regarding having the davit on the boat during races, he said, “the more
junk you’ve got on board the more chance you have of getting hurt. I’ve been clobbered four or five times by [the snatch block on] the davit.”
Those present agreed all working lobsterboats should require all compulsory deck equipment to be of commercial, marine grade and be in working order. “We’re not trying to limit anybody,” Farrin said; “We’re trying to put in safeguards: it’s to make it the fairest, safest race. These are races for boats that go lobstering.”
A discussion of breakdowns for various size vessels and for horsepower followed, with those present voting for diesel class races to go 551-700 hp and to develop classes for over 700 hp. The vote was for a race for 701 to 899 hp and a separate one for diesels 900 hp and up.
The major accomplishment of the three-hour meeting, however, was the approval of an idea proposed by Keith Young of Winter Harbor: the three-complaint rule (immediately dubbed the “three-bitch” rule) which all present hoped would help take care of most illegalities.
Essentially, if a competitor thinks the owner-operator has not disclosed the actual horsepower on his vessel or made other modifications (in other words, Young said, “if somebody believes any rule is being broken”) three letters of complaint to the Oversight Committee will bring about an inspection of that vessel. The inspection will be overseen by a member of the race committee from each participating town, and if it requires tearing down an engine, the team will probably call upon a neutral, qualified mechanic.”
Young also noted that at the 2002 Winter Harbor races, Atlantic Boats, in conjunction with Composite One Materials, will donate a 35 Duffy hull for a drawing in a raffle for competitors holding valid commercial fishermen’s licenses.
The formation of a racing association and other issues will be discussed and voted upon again in early March at the Fishermen’s Forum. Farrin, who noted that he and the rest of the Oversight Committee members are looking for solutions to racing’s problems, said, “anyone interested in putting in his two cents is more than welcome.”