Seventh Annual
Small Reach
Regatta

Frenchman Bay
July 18 - 22, 2012
Lamoine State Park
Maine

Download
2012 Event
Notification

In 2006, a group of sail-and-oars boats gathered for an informal cruise in Maine to answer a question: could we succeed here with a large gathering of such boats, inspired by “Raids” in Europe and by the famed Eggemoggin Reach Regatta for classic yachts? The reply was an enthusiastic “yes,” and for three more years like-minded people sailed the same waters the ERR has sailed annually since 1985. This experience gave us our name—the Small Reach Regatta, and today we are organized entirely under the auspices of the Down East Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association.

The SRR grew rapidly. We sailed with a fleet of 53 participating boats in 2010 and 41 in 2011, most of them from New England but also from as far away as Florida, Virginia, and Ohio. We had a support fleet of six chase boats under the able leadership of David Wyman of Castine. Knowing that we would need a larger site, we found a home at Lamoine State Park, open to the sailing grounds of Frenchman Bay east of Mount Desert Island. Lamoine State Park has excellent camping accommodations, a good boat launch, ample beaching possibilities, nearby islands, and outstanding scenic qualities. Recognizing that there is still ample exploring to do in that area, we’ve decided to return to Lamoine for 2012. After that—who knows? We’re considering new venues as well, to keep the event fresh and to explore new territories.

The idea of the SRR is to gather together small sail-and-oars boats for sailing, with the same kind of camaraderie and appreciation that the ERR has established. The boats typically sail courses of 5 to 15 nautical miles on three successive days (Thursday through Saturday), starting from the park’s waterfront each morning and returning each afternoon. There is no racing, but participants always show keen interest in how their boats perform against others. Many of the boats were built of wood by their owners themselves, and last year seven of them were even designed by their builders.

We don’t have hard-and-fast rules about boat minimum or maximum lengths, knowing that the nature of traditional small craft is highly variable. The largest boat in the 2010 fleet was 22’, and the smallest 13’. They ranged from elegant yacht-like constructions to boats inspired by workboats such as sailing dories. Generally, the boats must be able to put in to a beach and relaunch without assistance and must have oars as auxiliary propulsion.

Boating safety is always a priority at the SRR, and the fleet is accompanied at all times by a chase fleet, usually six fast powerboats. Participating boats are required to meet a checklist of safety equipment. Our safety demonstrations in years past have included a firing of emergency flares and a deliberate capsize and self-recovery. We take safe seamanship seriously.

For more information, contact — Tom Jackson, P.O. Box 96, Brooklin, ME 04616; 207–359–4651; <tom@woodenboat.com>; or David Wyman, P.O. Box 505, Castine, ME 04421; 207–326–9406; <david@dwymanpe.com>.

E-mail is our preferred method of communication. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We hope to see you this summer on the coast of Maine!

For complete information on fees, boat and skipper qualifications, required equipment, and application materials
due March 5, 2012
download (PDF):
Small Reach Regatta Application Materials.

 See also the Facebook page for the Small Reach Regatta.

All images Copyright© 2010
Rosemary Wyman