We watched the start of the Penobscot PHRF race off Rockport. Raising our sails in the light air my wife and I lingered as the different classes got the starting gun. The start was near the lighthouse off Indian Island. From there boats had a short beat - that wasn't easy in the light air - to windward, to round the buoy off Rockport Harbor. We too headed to windward as it was so hot, even on the water.

It seems that racing is on the rise in Penobscot Bay. There's an event every weekend; sometimes several. While there are the more serious Gulf of Maine assoc. stuff regularly, many of these new events are more casual. Out of Rockport, Rockland and Camden.

We haven't raced in a couple decades so this would be new, especially on this boat. I checked out the sailing instructions, entrance, etc.

Simple: the course is from Rockport to Belfast(and back again the following day). Festivities at Front Street Shipyard. Fee is $120.00, which with 4 tickets for dinner, is cheaper than buying groceries and drinks for the crew!

Plus you can tie up for a reduced $1/ foot at their docks. A few family and friends were game with the idea so we loosely filed the idea away for next season. We can manage one spinnaker hoist and douse per day(that's about it-this race is easy on maneuvers and tacks which would kill us...).

We sailed up to the races windward buoy and watched the last straggler slowly raise his spinnaker, and fall off down wind toward Belfast.

I remembered - as we marveled at how cooling our wind was coming from forward of our beam - some long ago races in light air, how hot it was going downwind under spinnaker. The sweat pouring off your nose would douse the spinnaker sheet winch that you were constantly letting our and pulling in,...you neck stiff from looking at the spinnaker tell tales on the luff,...

Oh well, we might still enter a race and give it a go. It could be fun.

Here's the PHRF fleet at the start of a 4 to 5 hour DDW leg, in sweltering heat.