“Pico—one of nine Portuguese Azorean islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that is dominated by a cone volcano—is about three times the size of the U.S. island of Nantucket, or 10% larger than the U.K. Isle of Wight.
American whale boats regularly visited this archipelago in the late 1700’s, including Pico island, and influenced the eventual creation of the islands’ industry of harpooning cetaceans. In 1952 alone, approximately 725 whales were killed in the Azores—predominantly sperm whales, which were the only species targeted. Each whale could supply up to 3,000 gallons [11,000 liters] of oil, converted from fat at a coastal factory in Pico that opened in 1935.
In 1984, this hunting was declared illegal in the Azores as part of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.
Whale Boat Racing
Azorean whaling no longer exists. Yet traditional hunting boats are now active in a dynamic universe of racing.
‘Without these regattas, all these whale boats would be gone. But they are a healthy story of change and adaptation,’ Filipe Fernandes explained.
Fernandes, born in the town of Lajes do Pico, is an avid and successful whale boat racer who promotes the sport as a badge of identity for the Azores. Trained as an economist and employed by the city hall treasury department, he spends his free hours training in a whale boat every day from May through September, and races during weekends in summer.
In July of 1988, the first whale boat regatta was organized in the Azores, based on informal races that took place earlier.
Pico residents led the way in promoting these races. Today the island has 23 recovered working boats, while the neighboring island of Faial has eight and Terceira island has three. No other Azorean isle has more than two working whale boats.
Some eight whale boat regattas now take place annually off the shores of Pico and Faial. These include inter- and intra-island events broken into categories: male rowing, female rowing, mixed sailing and ‘mastery,’ where crews both row and sail—as whaling crews once did. At ‘Whalers Week’ (Semana dos Baleeiros) in late August this year on Pico, some 400 persons participated.
The regional directorate of cultural affairs (Direçao Regional dos Assuntos Culturais) of the Azorean Government paid for the reconstruction of these 38- to 39-foot (12-meter) long whale boats used for racing. They also provide annual funds for boat conservation.
‘These boats are heritage; they are public property, and are assigned to clubs,’ Fernandes explained.”
