Historic Windjammer Fleet
Jesup Memorial Library
“Passing him is like trying to pass a kidney stone,” said Barry King of John Foss and his enormous boat, the American Eagle. King, the captain of the schooner the Mary Day, was attempting to get ahead of the 122-foot National Historic Landmark as the two competed in the annual Great Schooner Race on Penobscot Bay in Maine in 2017. Neither boat won that July race day – the schooner the Stephen Taber claimed victory and the coveted “Eat My Wake” flag – but the windjammers, as they‚Äôre called, are back every summer to compete, cruise, and share their camaraderie and the unique experience of sailing a wooden boat.
Using traditional working sailing vessels for recreational excursions was the brainchild of Captain Frank Swift, who, in the 1930s, saw the conversion to tourism as not only a business opportunity but a way to preserve Maine’s centuries-long wooden shipbuilding and sailing heritage as commercial sailing was eclipsed by modern transport.
While individual vessels operate on their own, much of Maine’s windjammer fleet operates under the umbrella of the Maine Windjammer Association. Based out of Camden and Rockland harbors, the boats of this fleet are individually owned and operated and several are National Historic Landmarks. Altogether, they span some 150 years of vessel history, with some built in the 1800s to transport cargo and a few in the 1960s through ‚Äô80s specifically for sail tourism.
Today, the Maine Windjammer Association fleet and other individual vessels do double duty: preserving Maine’s sailing heritage while offering passengers the chance to hear the colorful yarns of seafarers past and present, share meals and music, take the captain’s wheel, and help raise and lower sails – and no one is forced to walk the plank for mistakes – well, hardly ever.
