On Saturday Sept. 24, the Boothbay Region Sailing Club scholastic team sailed in the Bulldog Open hosted by Portland High School at Sail Maine in shifty and gusty conditions ranging from 6-20 knots. B-Boat crew Nate Rideout, (BRMS), stepped up to skipper with veteran crew Nate Graves (BRHS). Ella Beauregard (CTL) and Hamilton Barclay sailed the A Boat.  

White caps covered the course when the team arrived in Portland Saturday, but by the start of the race, the Northerly dropped into the 5-10 knot range and the left-over waves made weight distribution and trim ever more important. With current carrying the boats down course, several boats could not make the line within 30 seconds of the start. A-Division sailors Beauregard and Barclay got a clean start near the committee boat and sailed well in the chop, moving weight in and out frequently to adjust for the changing breeze. They went left, then up the center of the course rounding overlapped with the sailors from Marblehead, and close astern of eventual race winner Falmouth. The top three boats sailed very close through-out the W4 course (twice around) with Boothbay taking third. The wind shifted to the North Northwest for the second race but not enough to change the course. The Boothbay boat was tacked on immediately by Falmouth and had to struggle to keep clear air. They finished 4th.  

Rideout and Graves faired not as well in their first two races, with the current still ebbing, the pair were late to the start, not crossing for nearly 45 seconds after the whistle. They made up ground managing an 8th. Rideout, with encouragement from experienced crew, Nate Graves dug in on the next start determined not to be late but found himself closed at the committee boat and circling back crossing the line late but with speed. They finished 8th again, a similar sequence and going too far to the right side of the course on their next race made three 8th place finishes in a row for the B-Boat.   In their A-Division's third race, the wind shifted further to the west and began gusting from 8-18 knots. The shifts were sufficient on the third race that a port tack start, if you could find room was the answer. The Boothbay team was fouled at the start by a team from Southern Maine but quickly recovered. With the exception of race 3 and 4 when the wind shifted hard left to 295 then 270 degrees they owned the race committee boat end of the line on each start. However, on race 5, they were fouled by a team from Southern Maine who pushed them beyond head to wind and on to port tack and into the race committee boat, striking the stern port quarter with 20 seconds to go. Thinking they had fouled the leeward boat, the pair backed downwind out of the melee, did circles then proceeded to pass six--crossing the start line last but finishing 4th.

Beauregard and Barclay have developed a resilience not often seen in young sailors. The second, third and fourth flights were consistent for the A-Boat posting no worse than 4th's and no better than 3rd's. The A-Boat finished third in the A Division with 28 points.  

The tale of two Nates was far from over in B-Division. On their 4th race they found the left then center of the course paid off and finished 2nd. In the next race, they again started well, controlling the majority of the fleet going left (see picture of boat #5). When they tacked the Boothbay boat led the fleet to the starboard tack layline, rounding right behind eventual winner Southern Maine which worked very hard keeping the boat flat. The B-Boat followed that up with a 5, 7, and 8 in the last, difficult to stay up, last race. It was good enough for 7th in their division with 48 points.

Combined the team scored 76 points, good enough for third place in the series, another strong showing for this team of young sailors.

This week, Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club hosts the Boothbay Region Sailing Club's first regatta at home on Boothbay. Sailors from MDI, Isleboro, Rockland, Camden Hills, Oceanside, and George Stevens Academy will be competing in the second of three events in the inaugural Pen-Bay Sailing League. Report time for the sailors in 1100, start time is 1230 racing continues to 1600.