Pumpkinfest crosses finish line
Tim Smith reaches out to grab the dock and win his heat during Monday’s pumpkin regatta in Damariscotta. Smith, from Boston, won his fifth title. BEN BULKELEY/Boothbay Register
Lisa Evans, front, dips a paddle in during the opening race of the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest regatta. Smith’s relay team would take first place. BEN BULKELEY/Boothbay Register
Matt Poole climbs aboard his boat. Poole, of South Bristol, piloted a boat built by Mike Morrison. BEN BULKELEY/Boothbay Register
Buzz Pinkham ambles home in his pumpkin boat. BEN BULKELEY/Boothbay Register
Tim Smith reaches out to grab the dock and win his heat during Monday’s pumpkin regatta in Damariscotta. Smith, from Boston, won his fifth title. BEN BULKELEY/Boothbay Register
Lisa Evans, front, dips a paddle in during the opening race of the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest regatta. Smith’s relay team would take first place. BEN BULKELEY/Boothbay Register
Matt Poole climbs aboard his boat. Poole, of South Bristol, piloted a boat built by Mike Morrison. BEN BULKELEY/Boothbay Register
Buzz Pinkham ambles home in his pumpkin boat. BEN BULKELEY/Boothbay Register
Damariscotta Pumpkinfest and Regatta finished October 14 in the way it all started: in pumpkin boats on the Damariscotta River.
The multiple races closed out another year of pumpkin food, destruction, painting and racing.
Tim Smith of Boston was able to reclaim his crown as top pumpkin paddler after Charlie Lopresti tried to show off for the crowd. Smith has won five times in the regatta.
Before the race Smith was nervous because the perfect pumpkin for a regatta (large, but not too large) was a tough find.
“There aren’t a lot of pumpkins to choose from this year,” he said. “(I’ve raced) in the past four years and I’ve won a few of them.
“I don’t know about this year; there aren’t a lot of boat pumpkins here.”
In the end, Smith was able to steer his pumpkin to victory again.
In the motorized division, South Bristol’s Matt Poole was unable to hold onto an early lead and took on a bit of water and finished fourth.
Christian Rioux would overtake Poole in the last leg of the race to claim victory. In a sign of pumpkin solidarity, Rioux turned around and towed Poole back in to turn a DNF into a fourth-place finish.
Buzz Pinkham took second place while Tom Lishness in his traditional pumpkin skiff brought home a third-place trophy.
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