Annual Windjammer Days festival ends with a bang

BOOTHBAY HARBOR — The grand finale of this resort town’s four-day maritime festival got under way Thursday afternoon as a flotilla of sailboats set sail off Tumbler Island.

“The Bang and Go Sailboat Race” concludes the Windjammer Days celebration, an annual summer event for nearly three decades focusing on Maine’s rich maritime history.

The centerpiece of this year’s celebration was the appearance of the U.S. Coast Guard’s training vessel and tall ship Eagle, which sailed into the harbor on Wednesday morning and left the next day. This year marks the Coast Guard’s 200th anniversary.

“This was the finest we’ve ever had. The pomp and pageantry of the Eagle was wonderful. The Coast Guard really pumped up the event. We had more schooners than we’ve ever had, about 18, I think,” said Ronald Appel, one of the festival’s organizers at the Boothbay Harbor Chamber of Commerce.

Thursday’s regatta began at Tumbler Island, one of several islands in the outer area of Boothbay Harbor. The small vessels were scheduled to make a four-mile course, racing until a winner reached the last marker, said organizer Tom Tavenner.

The race gets its name from the way in which the event is run. A cannon or gun is fired at the start and every few minutes or so a shot is fired again, signaling to the vessels to change direction.

“At some time they will be milling about and a cannon will be fired and everybody will go east, for example. After a certain period of time, the cannon will fire again and it may say go south. This all goes on for a long time. Theoretically, they all end up at the finish line at the same time,” said Appel.