Dear Readers,

Over the weekend, many of us were glued to the Internet, watching one of the world's great sailing races.

It was the 70th edition of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart (Australia) sailboat classic.

We were watching Comanche, the 100-foot-long wonder boat that rolled out of Tim Hodgdon's East Boothbay shipyard a few months ago.

Experts said Comanche looked good on paper, but it was untested and its crew didn't really know what it could do.

“We didn't know, what we didn't know,” said skipper Ken Read.

While it didn't win, it delivered a flawless performance, placing second in the 628-mile challenge, billed as the most grueling long distance open water race in the world.

The skipper explained the problem was not the sharp winds and boiling seas of the wild southern ocean. The problem was calm. For about 12 hours, Comanche hit a spot where the winds were below 6 knots. But when the winds freshened and began to howl, Comanche just “ripped it.” With former America's Cup skipper Jimmy Spithill at the helm, it hit 32 knots.

Read called Comanche the fastest mono hull in the world.

On several occasions, the carbon fiber beauty was fully airborne. At one point, it was some 40 miles behind the leader. And at the finish, it was just 10 miles behind.

At a finish line press conference, carried over the Internet, the skipper paid a special tribute to the craftsmanship of Hodgdon's East Boothbay yard.

“Special credit to the boatbuilders that put the boat together, and the design team, because, Lord knows, it didn't break. And we tried our best to break it,” he said.

It is heady stuff for an untested boat, but not surprising. Once again, our hometown boatbuilders showed the world what we knew all along.

Some of the finest boats in the world are born in the East Boothbay yards perched on the edge of the Damariscotta River.

No matter if it is a stunning Hodgdon Yachts creation, like Comanche, the elegant yacht, Antonisa, the Navy Seal's go-fast boat Mako, or one of Washburn & Doughty's mighty tugs, there are no finer boats in the world.

Despite not finishing first, the skipper said he and owners, Jim and Kristy Hinze-Clark, are not finished with long distance ocean racing. And we can't wait for the next chapter for this very swift East Boothbay racing boat.

We offer our congratulations to Team Comanche. And we offer a special pat on the back for the fine craftsmen who built at Hodgdon Yachts East Boothbay yard.

Well done to all.

Video courtesy of Hodgdon Yachts.