NATHAN MAYBERG About 30 sailboat captains took part in the 55th annual Summerset Regatta races on Saturday and Sunday.

Though they may have unnerved the unexpected beachgoers mistaking them for pirates, the sailboats lined up along the coast of Fort Myers Beach this weekend had no known connections to Blackbeard or Jack Sparrow.

About 30 sailboat captains took part in the 55th annual Summerset Regatta races on Saturday and Sunday in a spirited renewal that overcame bouts of rain from the unforgiving skies and provided an action-packed backdrop to the view of the Gulf of Mexico for onlookers.

Sunday’s feature race, the cruising “pursuit” race was won by John Finnegan’s “Castaways.” The North Fort Myers boat captain’s team also won the loudest, the most cheering and the best dancers, said Rear Commodore of racing James Gallagher.

Finnegan’s boat finished five minutes ahead of Brock Johnson’s “The Lone Ranger.”

In Sunday’s Lou Tilley Classic cruising race, Cape Coral’s Jason Pim edged out the competition aboard “Gopher Baroque.” The runner-up was Lee Reeves and “Tranquility.”

“I have sailed in a lot of Summerset races over the years but I do not remember many that had such a nice, consistent wind,” Pim said. “It was a wonderful weekend and we are fortunate to have a lot of great participants and volunteers that have made the Summerset Regatta such a success.”

Gary Schwarting, of Naples, was a repeat winner in the Spinnaker class aboard “Obsession.” He defeated Michael Kayusa’s “Pendragon.”

Frank Brown’s “Mae-B” won the non-Spinnaker class.

Punta Gorda’s Mike Busher finished first in Saturday’s cruising race abord “Serendipity.”

“It was great,” said race co-organizer and Summerset Regatta Vice Commodore Allen Fiske. “We had a little bit of rain. We got all of the races in.”

The bouts of rainstorms in the area may have dampened the skies but did not cloud the spirits of the races.

“Everybody was happy,” Fiske said.

The races raise money to promote youth sailing with contributions from local and regional sponsors. The races also support the Ostego Bay Marine Science Center summer camp.