Teams of four sled dogs howled and jumped Saturday while waiting for 90 seconds to pass between each team’s turn to take off on the 3-mile course – and then they ran.

The all-day event at Sunset Ridge Golf Links highlighted the most recent installment of Westbrook’s Winter West festival, which was again affected by weather. The threat of a potential blizzard for Sunday caused the cancellation of a second day of races, and on Friday, caused a second Family Skate Night in Riverbank Park to be rescheduled due to the extreme cold.

Last year, poor weather caused the cancellation of a number of Winter West events, which resulted in a new, spread-out slate of weekend events throughout this winter.

However, Saturday’s sled dog races, featuring the New England Sled Dog Club, brought out 21 teams and a few hundred people hoping to catch the excitement. Prior to each race, a timekeeper announced time slots over a megaphone, with dogs and sleds marching into place. Viewers hoping to stay warm peered down from large windows in the Sunset Ridge pro shop, where an arts and crafts fair and dog adoption event coincided with the races.

A brave few trudged through a few feet of snow to see the dogs up close, which included Allen Hayman, the owner of Sunset Ridge. Hayman said the overall spectator count was down from last year, most likely due to the cold and thoughts of an impending storm. Nonetheless, he said, “We had another great event this year.”

“I think the cold and the blizzard warnings kept a majority of the families away,” he said. “We still had a couple hundred people show up throughout the course of the day to participate in the day’s events.”

While the snow may have kept some potential spectators away, it will most likely bring back the sled dogs for an additional race weekend, due to higher-than-normal snowpack.

“The racers were still extremely pleased with the event,” Hayman said, adding that the additional event is tentatively scheduled for March 21-22.

Volunteers from the Westbrook Trail Blazes Snowmobile Club groomed the track prior to the weekend’s races.

Hayman said the arts and crafts fair, held upstairs, was “well attended.” Also, two local animal adoption agencies brought eight dogs for adoption, and found homes for three by the end of the day.

Leading up to the weekend, festival organizers set up a shuttle service from downtown Westbrook to Sunset Ridge, which Hayman called “well-received” and “better utilized” than in past years. The bus ran from the CVS parking lot off Main Street, with hourly pickups.

On Friday, local comedian Krazy Jake performed at Sunset Ridge as a kick-off to the weekend. On his Facebook page Friday, he posted a video of his arrival at the golf course.

“You can ride your snow sled right up to this one, boys and girls,” he said, joking, “I don’t know how much golf we’re going to get in though.”

Maria Dorn, the director of Westbrook Community Services, said this week that due to the cancellation of the Family Skate Night, another skate night is being planned for early March. The rink, next to the Dunn Street American Legion Hall, has been maintained by a core of volunteers and sponsored by Glacial Multimedia.

Dorn said the final events held for Winter West 2015 will be the weekend of March 14-15, highlighted by the “Happy Go Lucky” Winter West 5K on Sunday, March 15. Dorn said this is the third year in a row that Westbrook Community Services has partnered with the Westbrook Fire Department to organize the run.

“This race is well attended every year because it’s so much fun,” she said, calling the race a great run for every age level, which circles the city.

Community services is hosting a pre-registration discount night on March 4 at Portland Pie Co. in Westbrook from 6-8 p.m. Paper registration is $25, online is $15, which will be available during the event.

As spectators watch from the clubhouse, sled dogs round the first corner of a 3-mile race course at Sunset Ridge Golf Links last Saturday. Volunteers from the Westbrook Trail Blazes Snowmobile Club groomed the track prior to the  races, which were the highlight of the Winter West festival in Westbrook.Staff photo by Andrew Rice