The Great Provincetown Schooner Regatta’s Long Point Schooner & Yacht Race pits schooners that have raced from Gloucester to Provincetown earlier in the week against local boats. During the week, rides are available on the schooners, including during races.
Passengers get their safety briefing on board the Hindu, a 75′ schooner built in 1925. A schooner, of course, is a two (or more) masted sailing vessel where the foremast is usually shorter than the main.
The Hindu joins other boats in motoring out into the harbor.
On a relatively windless day, the schooners and other boats mill about waiting for the beginning of the race.
We opted for spots on a whale watching boat that would shadow the race, a boat billed as an opportunity to “paint the race.”
Philip and Catherine set up quickly in the stern, while photographers roamed along the railings.
With sails aloft but nothing to power them, most of the action seemed to be happening behind the easels.
The race course was moved a few times to try to find some wind and the starting time delayed. Finally, the starting line was moved up to Truro.
And . . . They’re Off!
Looks like the Spirit of South Carolina (thanks for the flag, guys) gaining on the (hmm, I don’t know) and followed by the (gee, it’s hard to tell them apart, isn’t it?).
Finally, the consensus of the boat’s passengers was that we should go look for some whales. That worked nicely. We saw a humpback, a few finbacks and a mola mola which, for you uninitiated, is an ocean sunfish. It’s a big round fish that weighs in at about 400 pounds and 8 feet across and swims on its side at the surface waving its fin above the water. Weird and wonderful.