Whaleboat Races Continue To Be Centerpiece of HarborFest | 27Speaks Podcast
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Whaleboat Races Continue To Be a Centerpiece of HarborFest | 27Speaks Podcast

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The Sag Harbor Express whaleboat team races from shore during the 2018 HarborFest celebration. MICHAEL HELLER

The Sag Harbor Express whaleboat team races from shore during the 2018 HarborFest celebration. MICHAEL HELLER

27Speaks on Sep 12, 2024

Whaleboats have been a hallmark of HarborFest in Sag Harbor going back to the 1960s, when author John Steinbeck and others founded the annual event, originally known as the Old Whalers Festival. The whaleboats went under a long-overdue restoration this year to keep them afloat for many HarborFests to come. HarborFest Whaleboat Committee leader Gavin Menu, who is also a co-publisher of The Express News Group, joins the editors on 27Speaks this week to talk about the history of whaleboat racing at HarborFest, which returns September 14 and 15.

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