Whaleboat finals a success
 
NEW BEDFORD -- Sunshine and light breezes that picked up throughout the day brought more than 500 people to State Pier to watch the finals of the Independence Day Whaleboat Races as part of the eighth annual SummerFest celebration on New Bedford's waterfront.
"It was a beautiful day," said Whaling City Rowing Club executive director Lucy Iannotti.
The Day Old Stud Muffins, who placed second in Saturday's men's time trials, took first place away from The Gray Buzzards in the Division 1 men's final with a time of 10:17.08. The Buzzards placed second at 10:37.53 ahead of the Duraclean Dinghies at 10:43.86.
"Everyone was rooting for the old guys," said Iannotti, who noted that the Buzzards have been practicing all winter, rowing out to Butler Flats and back, a distance of 4-5 miles, without a rest stop.
However, yesterday, the Stud Muffins pulled ten seconds ahead of the Buzzards, setting a pace the Buzzards "just couldn't sustain," Iannotti said.
True to a crew tradition, the Stud Muffins threw coxwain Laurie Bullard into New Bedford Harbor following their victory (men's teams can have a coxwain of either gender). Last year, the Stud Muffins placed second behind the team from Abco Electronics.
In the women's Division 1 finals, the Immigrants of the Irish Immigrant Pub placed ahead of the 2nd place White Caps from St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing by 10 seconds, while the Airheads of Enos Home Oxygen took 3rd place. The White Caps are another team that has been rowing all year long, said Iannotti, and, even with a 2nd place finish, moved up two notches from last year.
Margaret's Oars of Fairhaven was the fastest of all the women's crews yesterday at 11:38.52, but they were competing in Division 2 based on their timed heat on Saturday. Yesterday in Division 2, they pulled ahead of the 2nd place independent team Motionally Unstable by 25 seconds. The Eurotics of the Euro Ship Store followed in 3rd place.
The coed races saw Danielle McCue of New Bedford, coxwain for CSI Construction Co., take her first win in five years of steering for several different teams.
"It was her first win in five tries," said Iannotti, "she really deserved it."
CSI beat out It's A Wrap! from A. Walecka & Son by four seconds in the Coed Division 1 finals, with the independent crew Shark Bait placing third.
Two of the closest races were the Men's Division 3 finals with the Acushnet Company's Water Hazard beating out the Mt. Vernon Group Architects Men of War by just over one second; and in Coed Division 2, the Water Mites of New Bedford Pest Control beat the independent Crabs Happen by under a second in a battle for second place.
Here are the complete results for yesterday's whaleboat race finals:
Men's, Division 1: 1. Day Old Stud Muffins, 10:17.08; 2. The Gray Buzzards, 10:37.53; 3. Duraclean Dinghies, 10:43.86.
Men's Division 2: 1. Team Peinert, Peinert Boatworks, 10:22.87; 2. Flotsam 2.0.1, The People's Team, 10:47.80.
Men's Division 3: 1. Water Hazard, Acushnet Co., 10:57.65; 2. Men of War, Mt. Vernon Group Architects, 10:58.96.
Women's Division 1: 1. Immigrants, Irish Immigrants Pub, 11:47.06; 2. White Caps, St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing Alumni, 11:57.91; 3. Airheads, Enos Home Oxygen, 12:07.41.
Women's Division 2: 1. Margaret's Oars, Margaret's Restaurant, 11:38.52; 2. Motionally Unstable, 12:02.53; 3. Eurotics, Euro Ship Store, 12:16.97.
Women's Division 3: 1. Zoo Crew (Bearly Rowing), Buttonwood Park Zoo, 12:06.50; 2. Mid-Life Crisis, 12:59.63; 3. Norwegian Squareheads, Jacobsen Isaksen Realty, 13:48.80.
Women's Division 4: 1. Navigators, UMass-Dartmouth, 12:59.72; 2. Rowbots, Procter & Gamble, 14:09.79.
Women's Division 5: 1. Sea Skimmers, 13:02.15; 2. Centerboard, Mattapoisett Track Club, 13:34.99.
Coed Division 1: 1. CSI, CSI construction, 11:11.04; 2. It's a Wrap!, A Walecka & Son, 11:16.89; 3. Shark Bait, 11:22.21.
Coed Division 2: 1. Carpe Diem, Acushnet Co., 12:07.43; 2. Water Mites, New Bedford Pest Control, 12:13.08; 3. Crabs Happen, 12:13.58.
This story appeared on Page C14 of The Standard-Times on July 15, 2002.
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