St. Peter's Fiesta
June 26-30, 2002
Seine Boat Racing is the highlight of the Fiesta sporting activities, dating back to the first city-wide celebration ever held in Gloucester. It is a true test of strenth, endurance and team work. Three boats, the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria are manned by twelve member crews. Starting at Pavilion Beach, each boat must row out a half mile, turn around a flag and then row back. The first to hit the beach is declared the winner. Saturday is the elimination race. The top two finishers get to face the defending champs on Sunday. There are also women and junior races.
Each crew is made up of ten rowers, a helmsman and a coxwain. Each job is equally important. A small lapse in concentration can mean the difference between first and third place. The rowers provide the strength that propels the boat. Each stroke must be long and smooth. Rowers must be able to endure the grueling mile course without tiring. The helmsman's responsibility is to stear the mighty craft. Many times a crew was the first to the turning point but the helmsman could not negotiate the turn properly. Valuable seconds were lost and so was the race. The coxwain's job is to make sure all the rowers stay in sync. If even one rower is out of sync then the boat is not moving at optimum speed and which be costly.
The Santa Maria Heads For Victory
A Seine Boat Crew Celebrates After A Win
The seine boat was a common method used long ago by the fisherman to haul in fish that were captured in their floating nets. The fish and seine boat were then loaded onto a larger vessel and when the boat reached it capacity, it headed for port.
Since most of Gloucester's fishing fleet stayed in port during the Fiesta, the seine boats were available for competitive racing. large enough to hold most of the crew of a fishing boat, the seine boats were used to settle race challenges issued between boat crews, each boasting the best and the strongest men in the fleet.
| Seine Boat Races Winning History | |
| 1959 Beachcomer's 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 Gondalias 1965 Gondalias 1966 Young at Heart 1967 1968 1969 1970 Young Scrods 1971 Youngsters 1972 All Beefer's 1973 "No Winner" 1974 All Beerer's 1975 "No Winner" 1976 "No Winner" 1977 Kids 1978 Mean Machine 1979 Mean Machine/Renegades |
1980 Kids 1981 Kids 1982 Kids 1983 Desire1984 Desire 1985 Desire 1986 Desire 1987 Raging Bulls 1988 Raging Bulls 1989 Raging Bulls 1990 Stoppers 1991 Allied Forces 1992 Allied Forces 1993 Over The Top 1994 Determination 1995 Determination 1996 Die Hard 1997 Die Hard 1998 Stayin Alive 1999 Perfect Storm 2000 KAOS 2001 Synergy |
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