Flashes of Panic

I guess the thing that’s missing from the NYT article about the lobster boat races is the recognition of how unique this sort of thing really is. You can’t really compare it, for example, with racing work vehicles on the road (e.g. pickup truck races) because the nature of the water is different.

On the road, the minimum requirement for a functional vehicle is that it roll. The minimum requirements on the water are a good deal higher (it has to float, it has to move efficiently through the water, and yet it should resist being pushed off the course it is steered on, for example) and that dictates the form of both pleasure boats and work boats to a greater degree than on land.

So a lobster boat has a lot more in common with a speedboat than it would appear. “Bulky, plodding boats” doesn’t really describe what’s going to the line in these races.

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