SITR

 2009

 

July 25th & 26th

 Hosted by

Southport Yacht Club & Boothbay Region Boatyard

 Winner of the GMORA

Hospitality Award - 2004 & 2008

 Great Racing, Great Food, Great Fun, Low Cost!!!

2009 Notices

Register before Saturday Morning July 25th to avoid $25.00 Late Fee

For mooring reservations at Boothbay Region Boatyard please email dockmaster@brby.com or call 207-633-2907 or 207-633-2971

Looking for crew or want to crew?  Email Diane Smith at sitr@southportyachtclub.org

Need a dinner ticket for the Saturday night party? Click the "register for this event link" on the left of this page and choose the amount you need and pay online.

History of the Seguin Island Trophy Races

 

The Southport Yacht Club (SYC) has participated in yacht racing on the coast of Maine though most of its 86 year history. The Seguin Island Race (SIR) for Gulf of Maine blue water racers was the brain-child of the late SYC Past Commodore, William Danforth. The races were first sailed in the summer of 1968. It was so named because the regatta always involved sailing near or around Seguin Island. The winner of the SIR that first year was the yacht Omega, owned and sailed by the Maine Maritime Academy. The SIR was sailed annually as a single day race until 1986. Race day always ended with festivities on Mr. Danforth’s lawn adjacent to the SYC or, later, at the SYC.

 

The SYC did not sponsor off-shore blue water racing between 1986 and 1995. In 1996, Boothbay Region Boatyard joined SYC to sponsor the Gulf of Maine Ocean Racing Association (GMORA) sanctioned Seguin Island Trophy Races (SITR). The regatta has evolved into a popular two day GMORA PHRF class and one design regatta that concludes with a 15-16 mile, multi-class, pursuit/reverse handicap race. The pursuit race is, in effect, two races in one with PHRF and one design class racing on the one hand while pursuing the overall leader on the other. The pursuit races have produced some of the most spectacular (if you are a spectator), heart-pounding (if you are crew or skipper), finishes ever seen on the coast of Maine. In 2001, three PHRF Class A yachts, Bandito, Still Crazy, and Synergy III, crossed overlapped in a finish many thought was almost too difficult to call.

 

The shore based festivities have become as memorable as the racing. Indeed, with “super barbecues”, a steel drum band, and ample refreshments, SITR has become one of the best regattas in the GMORA circuit. In 2004, SITR won the GMORA “Hospitality Award” for the best shore festivities of the season, and in 2006, SITR was the GMORA “Best Run Regatta”.

The 1976 Seguin Island Race was won by Pete Welles in Witch of Endor. Pete Welles died before he could race again. In his memory, the SYC maintains a perpetual Pete Welles Memorial Trophy which bears the name of each “first to finish” yacht in the SIR from 1976 to 1986. From 1996 to 2005, the winner of the SITR pursuit race has been awarded the Pete Welles Trophy. In 2006, The pursuit race was not run, and the trophy was given to the yacht with the highest overall Rinderle B score.

 

Subsequent winners of the Pete Welles Memorial Trophy:

Year Yacht Skipper Yacht Club

1977 Sea Robin Russ MacPherson FIYC

1978 Pique Dame John Welles BHYC

1979 Stinger Pat Twinem SYC, BHYC

1980 Meltemi Charles Stewart BHYC

1981 Matinicus Maine Maritime Academy MMA

1982 Matinicus Maine Maritime Academy MMA

1983 Pageant Maine Maritime Academy MMA

1984 Alsager David Nutt SYC

1985 Hawk J.H. Russell BHYC

1986 Stinger Bob Twinem SYC

1995 Suivez Moi II Peter Hawley SYC

1996 Gannet 2 Bob Johnstone BHYC

1997 Gannet 2 Bob Johnstone BHYC

1998 Hawk J. H. Russell BHYC

1999 Still Crazy Bill Helming SYC, BHYC

2000 Alegra Peter Garcia TPYC

2001 Bandito Dick Hale PYC

2002 Bandito Dick Hale PYC

2003 Charsar Jeff Sammis/Scott Fox PYC

2004 Paris Hilton Blake MacDiarmid SYC

2005 Revolution II Ed Rogers BHYC

2006 Ghost Ken Colburn SYC, BHYC

2007 Snowbird Jonathan Randall PYC

2008 Ghost owner Ken Colburn SYC, BHYC, skipper Carter White PYC