Yacht club team takes another victory in the cod race

The guys from Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club defended their title in the annual Windjammer Days cod races on June 26. Team Shmaker’s Bay beat out ten others to retain their title as the fastest fishmonger in town after winning the event last year.

“I think it was another great year,” said race organizer Jack Herger. “We probably had more kids this year than ever before and we had two teams of four with each child under 12. That’s a first, I think.”

According to Herger, the youngest participant in the race was about 6 years old.

Cyrus Blake, Toby Clarkson, Rath Schoenthal and Otto Schoenthal won the race in 3:02:49. The Bottom Feeders from Brunswick took second place with 3:56:60. Third place went to Fishy Business from Maine and North Carolina. The team finished with a time of 4:42:27.

Members of the Shmaker’s Bay team said the key to their success has been training. They put on oilskins and compete in races when possible. They said they even watch footage of previous races to hone their skills. It seems to be working, as the team was able to improve their time from last year by nearly 20 seconds. According to Herger, they finished second in 2022 because they had time deducted due to a technicality. Next year, members hope to finish in under three minutes.

This year, participants came from as far away as New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. Herger said this is the second year in a row that the Cod Squad is coming from the Lone Star State and will make it a family tradition.