This is Great Cove at dawn on Saturday, August 1, and these are some of the boats that over-nighted there. They soon will be going to the starting line of the annual Eggemoggin Reach Regatta or getting ready to watch the racers go by and come back in the afternoon. The 15-mile Regatta ends here at the Cove.
This race was over the same route it usually has traveled since its beginning in 1985. The racers started at Torrey Island and sailed south in the Reach outside Babson Island that protects the Cove. Here, you see them on their way south in the Reach; that’s the two-masted schooner LaDona way out there in the haze:
They turn about near Halibut Rocks and sail north to finish at the Cove in low tide, where they receive a congratulatory horn blast and cheers. The weather was mostly clear, but large clouds sometimes darkened the Reach.
There reportedly were about 100 racers that finished this year after hours of shifting and dying winds. They can come in any color, but must be sailboats made of wood and be at least 24 feet in overall length. Here’s a sampling of some as they came near and crossed the finish line:
The next morning, there was fog in the Cove and many of the visiting boats waited it out, singly or rafted with friends with whom they’ve partied.
We caught a glimpse of this schooner leaving that morning (yesterday) , but couldn’t identify her. We could use some help on that:
(Brooklin, Maine)