Yarmouth Cup Ocean Race cancelled

“We only had six boats registered,” said race spokesperson Brian Lewis.

The race has been held annually since 1990 except for 2005 when it was cancelled because of poor participation.

The event is a joint endeavor of the Yarmouth Ocean Racing Association of Nova Scotia and the Gulf of Maine Ocean Racing Association (GMORA).

Typically, between 15 and 20 vessels participated in the 174-mile race from Falmouth, Maine to Yarmouth.

“We’ve never had this few people so late in the game,” said Lewis.The Yarmouth committee has been meeting monthly since the 2006 race was held.

Organizers are still trying to analyze the problem of poor participation.

“Long distance racing is slacking off but the inshore racing is still holding up in Maine,” said Lewis.

In discussions with Peter Garcia, president of GMORA, the cyclical nature of racing was mentioned as well as the difficulties for American vessels with homeland security.

“The guys going back last year, apparently some of them, it took an extra eight or nine hours getting home because now they have to go to a specific spot for the officers to come down to check the boat out,” said Lewis.

The two organizations will be meeting to discuss the race in future.

The six boats that did register for the race have been invited to sail to Yarmouth for impromptu get-togethers.