International Dory Race results

Canadian rowers took four of five races as they squared off against teams from Gloucester, Massachusetts during the International Dory Races at Lunenburg September 13.

The first race of the day was the women’s contest featuring Clark’s Harbour rowers Nicole and Natalie Jones against Katherine Richmond and Samantha Rose of Gloucester. It was a close race to the quarter-mile buoy, however the Canadian team got ahead following a very slick turn and pulled away on the home stretch to cross the finish line at 6 minutes, 2 seconds. The U.S. team’s time was 6 minutes, 17 seconds.

The next race was the Junior contest. Again, the teams of Joe Ciolino and Kyle Edmonds of Gloucester and Connor Swim and Holden Nickerson of Clark’s Harbour rowed more or less neck-in-neck for the first half of the race, but after the turn the Canadians pulled ahead for a 6 minute, 7 second finish. The U.S. team crossed the line at 6 minutes, 26 seconds.

The Master’s Race saw defending champions Mark Duval and Joe Sanfilippo of the United States taking on rivals Kenny MacDonald and Tim Mair of Prince Edward Island. This truly was the race of the day with the two boats trading the lead several times over the half-mile course. In the end, it was a photo finish that saw the Canadian dory cross the line at 5 minutes, 39 seconds and 31 one-hundredths of a second compared to the U.S. time of 5 minutes, 39 seconds and 53 one-hundredths of a second. That’s a difference of just 22 one-hundredths of a second! Says a report out of Gloucester this morning, “15 beers later in the beer tent, the Americans called for a protest, then rescinded the protest after just one more beer!”

The fourth race of the day was the Mixed Doubles Race featuring Americans Katherine Richmond and Jim Tarantino vs. Canadians Natalie Jones and Tim Mair. The U.S. team took an early lead of roughly two boat lengths heading to the buoy, however, the Canadians gained on the turn, closing the gap to less than a single boat length. Still, the American team managed to maintain its lead and crossed the finish line at 5 minutes, 51 seconds.

As always, the main event of the day, and the only mile-long course, is the Seniors Race. This year, Americans Jerry Ciaramitaro and Mike Lovasco were up against Danny Moody and Walter Nickerson of Lockport, Nova Scotia. The Americans grabbed the early lead but unfortunately veered off course, nearly colliding with a channel buoy and losing valuable time. The Canadians took advantage of this and following a perfect turn at the half-way buoy, quickly took a two-boat lead. The Canadians crossed the line with a time of 10 minutes, 34 seconds, while the Americans finished at 10 minutes, 42 seconds.

Of course, the racing is just one component of this annual event and while the rowing is outstanding, the camaraderie between members of the Canadian and American delegations is truly spectacular. We wish we had pictures of Gloucester racing chair, and newly crowned Mixed Doubles champ Jim Tarantino flanked by Canadian rowing legend Garnet Heisler and Canadian racing chair Wayne Spindler, both in drag, as Jim attempted to compete in the Celebrity Scallop Shucking competition! Perhaps someone will send us a pic to post.

Dory Plug