BELFAST — The National Boatbuilding Challenge, a feature of Belfast Rotary Club’s 16th annual Harbor Fest, will award $1,750 in cash prizes to its top three boatbuilding teams. The Challenge is a four-hour competition Saturday, Aug. 20, beginning 11 a.m., the second day of the free three-day festival. Each competing two-person team will build a 12’ wooden skiff from scratch and row it out into Belfast Harbor.

“Thanks to generous sponsors including event sponsor Stanley Chevrolet Buick, and boatbuilding prize sponsors Mathews Brothers, and John and Pat Carrick, first prize for the Challenge will be $1,000. The second place team wins $500 and $250 goes to the third place finishers,” said Russell Werkman, Executive Director of the Waldo County YMCA and the Rotary Club’s Harbor Fest chairperson. Event coordinator John Carrick added, “That’s in addition to half-hull winners’ plaques. There is still room for a team or two to sign up, ‘build it, float it, and row it.’“

Go to belfastharborfest.com and fill out your application under the National Boatbuilding Challenge link.

The $100 entry fee team provides each pair of boatbuilders with plans and all building materials, oarlocks and a 12’ by 20’ covered building space with electricity, ready for setup at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20. Teams provide their own hand and power tools, manual caulking guns, work tables, hand-made oars (not store-bought) and two personal flotation devices.

“Boatbuilding teams have been made up of carpenters, professional and amateur boatbuilders, and never-before-build-a-boat pairs,” said Carrick. “Some teams finish, some don’t. Some boats float, some don’t. Some great builders can’t row a lick. But everyone has a good time, including hundreds or even thousands of spectators.”

The Sunday morning Harbor Fest Cardboard Boat Race, sponsored by Front Street Shipyard, is just for fun. The winners in youth, adult, business, audience favorite and “best sinking” categories get bragging rights. Go to belfastharborfest.com to register either a boatbuilding or Cardboard Boat team.

The free three-day Belfast Rotary Club Harbor Fest celebrates the city’s maritime history and traditions. It kicks off Friday, Aug. 18, at 5:30 p.m., with a live and silent auction, complete with music, refreshments and cash bar, to benefit the seven RSU 71 and RSU 20 elementary school clothes closet programs. Harbor Fest continues on Saturday with the National Boatbuilding Challenge, 11 a.m. and 12 noon tours of the Front Street Shipyard, the 21st annual Come Boating! rowing regatta, 5K “Bug Run” road race, blueberry pancake breakfast, Boat Gear Swap, live music, food trucks, Boy Scouts-sponsored Pinewood Derby and children’s activities. It ends with the Sunday morning Cardboard Boat Race.

This year’s nearly 50 Harbor Fest sponsoring companies and organizations include Stanley Chevrolet Buick, City of Belfast, Front Street Shipyard, Ducktrap River of Maine, First National Bank, Viking Lumber, Kim Fleming and Mark Bulmer, Waldo County General Hospital (Maine Health), Bangor Savings Bank, Penobscot Bay Tractor Tug, John and Pat Carrick and Cold Mountain Builders. Other sponsors include United Farmers Market, Blueberry Broadcasting, Hamlin’s Marine, Robbins Lumber Company, Hammond Lumber, K Construction, J Black Printing, Cornerspring Montessori School, Waldo County YMCA, and Waldo Boy Scouts.

Belfast Rotary Club, celebrating 100 years of service in 2025, is one of the midcoast’s largest and most active clubs. Its members meet Wednesdays at noon at the Shrine Club in Belfast. The Club raises funds year-round through activities such as the Belfast Harbor Fest, annual charitable golf tournament event, 5K road races and pancake breakfasts. Its more than $150,000 in yearly charitable gifts include support for seven food pantries, year-end holiday clothing and toys for more than 200 children and$80,000 in scholarships for local college-bound high school students. For more information on membership or to make a tax-deductible donation in support of the Club’s year-round service programs, go to belfastrotary.org.