An Australian “clawed’ his way to victory June 26 in the 2024 Windjammer Days lobster eating contest. Craig Browning and wife Melissa are from Newcastle, Australia which is a couple hours north of Sydney. The couple is on a six-week tour of North America. They spent two weeks in New York City then rented a car and headed north. Prior stops included Boston, where they attended the June 21 Boston Celtics championship parade. The couple visited historic Salem, Massachusetts before arriving in Boothbay Harbor.

“My wife Googled and found Windjammer Days, so we came here,” Craig Browning said. His wife urged him to enter past chili eating contests in Australia and told him to enter the lobster eating contest. Melissa Browning thought the experience would be a fun anecdote for their trip. “I thought it would be hilarious watching him skull down a couple lobster trying to win,” she said.

Browning bested nine other contestants who paid $15 to compete in the contest. Each contestant had two lobsters presented to them and Browning won the contest in 100 seconds. The champ was asked how he prepared. “I didn’t,” he said. 

The couple are enjoying the warm summer weather of Boothbay in late June. “I love Boothbay because it’s absolutely gorgeous,” Craig Browning said. The couple will continue to Canada and end their vacation in San Francisco.

The lobster eating contest was part of the Fishermen’s Festival before becoming part of Windjammer Days. Contest organizer Jack Herger became involved in the event 10 years ago. “I just love the event and I didn’t want to see it go away,” he said. “There is nothing more hilarious than self-humiliation, and this contest is a perfect example.”

Not all contestants' prime objective is winning. Herger recalled a 10-year-old girl who just wanted to eat lobster. “She asked if she had to race because $15 was a good deal to eat lobster. She entered, sat down and quietly ate her two lobsters.”

Besides Browning, other contestants were Dave Destito, Nashua, New Hampshire; “Bloody Bell,” Hawthorne, Connecticut; Cynthia Davis, Wakefield, Massachusetts; Nick Furnas, Siena Vista, Arizona; Bobby Heitzinger, Tucson, Arizona; Matt Lambert, Los Angeles, California; Bryan Bogenberger, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Tom Hughes, Mashpee, Massachusetts; and Mike Radlbeck, Vernon, Connecticut. 

While the contestants came from a wide range of locations, so did the crowd. Dave Bonneau and wife Janice Murray of Rochester, New Hampshire wanted to experience Windjammer Days. Murray is a former teacher who retired this June after 39 years. “I wanted to come because it's absolutely gorgeous and tall ships are cool,” Murray said. On his first trip to Boothbay, Bonneau remarked: “It’s beautiful here. Everyone should experience it.”