A Harpswell Tradition for

Maine’s summer lobster boat racing circuit starts in Boothbay and ends in Portland, drawing people from all over the state of Maine up and down the coast. The Harpswell Lobster Boat Races have been part of this Maine Summer tradition for more than 3 decades.

Unfortunately, in 2014, the Harpswell Races experienced a severe shortage of volunteers. This turned into a multi-year hiatus, with Harpswell sitting out of the races for 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

But in 2018, Harpswell native Larry Ward assembled a group to bring the races back!

As Larry said at the first committee meeting back, “anyone who knows Harpswell understands how much this event has meant to our town. We’ve been enjoying the races in our town for decades, and most of us have grown up looking forward to them every Summer. It was a shame that Harpswell had to take a break, but we’re going to come back stronger than ever!”

That Summer, Larry led the charge to bring the races back to Harpswell, and under his leadership the races raised and donated nearly $10,000 to the Harpswell Santa Fund and several other area service groups. 

Sadly, Larry passed away in 2019, after successfully bringing the races back to Harpswell.

But the crew that he assembled — lovingly referred to now as “Larry’s Angels” — continues to carry the torch in his honor to make this a great event for all.