August 26, 2016 — The following was released by Maritime Gloucester:

This year’s Gloucester Schooner Festival will set a record for number of schooners participating. Twenty five schooners will descend on Cape Ann to participate in the 32^nd annual Festival.

In the large schooner category, Columbia returns to defend her  title as fastest schooner in the fleet, while Adventure, Roseway, Lettie Howard, American Eagle and Liberty Clipper will attempt to dethrone last year’s champion. Adventure is particularly excited about this year’s race as it seeks to celebrate its 90^th birthday with a win on Sunday.

We welcome five schooners that have not been here before, or have not been here in some time. These vessels include Ishmael, Principles and Tree of Life in the mid-sized schooner category, and Ishtar and Malabar II in the small schooner category. A complete list of participating schooners is included with this press release.

“This is my favorite weekend of the year,” says Tom Ellis, long-time schooner captain and one of the patriarchs of the local schooner community.

The celebrations begin Friday evening. The City will be hosting a Block Party on Main Street and Maritime Gloucester, host of the Schooner Festival, will host its annual Gala, Evening Under the Spars at Gloucester’s new Beauport Hotel (sold out).

Festivities on Saturday start at 10:00 am on Harbor Loop under the First Ipswich Pavilion Tent at Maritime Gloucester. Maritime Heritage day celebrates our fishing and schooner heritage with an array of organizations offering interactive exhibits as well as local vendors and artists who will be in attendance. Heritage day is fun for all ages and is a great way to kick off Schooner Festival Weekend. Maritime Gloucester’s museum will be open free of charge throughout the day. Schooners will be located around the Harbor and information about the schooners and their locations will be available at Heritage Day. For example, the Schooner Adventure will be located at the State Fish Pier and will be open for deck tours.

Additional Saturday activities include a lobster bake at the Gloucester House Restaurant followed by the Boat “Parade of Lights” which kicks off at 7:30pm and Fireworks over Gloucester Harbor around 9:15pm

Sunday’s Parade of Sail Kicks off at 10:30 am, proceeding from Gloucester’s Inner Harbor past Stacy Boulevard to the starting area of the Mayor’s Race on Eastern Point. Key viewing areas include the Boulevard and Stage Fort Park. The Mayor’s Race starts at 1:00pm. The race is a remembrance of the rekindling of the schooner race of the 1920’s off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia between the Canadian Schooner Delawanna and the U.S. Schooner Esperanto.  A press boat is available for a limited number of photographers.

Lead sponsors of the Festival include: First Ipswich Bank, the City of Gloucester, Market Basket and Institution for Savings. For a full list of sponsors, go to the Schooner Festival website. The Festival raises much needed funds from the community by offering a raffle in addition to corporate underwriting support. Please purchase raffle tickets at Maritime Gloucester or during Maritime Heritage Day.

July 14, 2016 — The following was released by Maritime Gloucester:

There are three key story lines for this year’s 32^nd annual Gloucester Schooner Festival, which runs from September 2^nd to September 4^th.

First, the Schooner Columbia, last year’s winner, returns to the Festival to defend its title. The original Columbia was a 141’ classic Gloucester Fishing Schooner built at the historic A.D. Story shipyard of Essex, Massachusetts in 1923. The replica Columbia was built by Brian D’Isernia at his boat yard, Eastern Shipbuilding Group, in Panama City, Florida. “It is great to have her here in Gloucester,” says Schooner Committee Chair Daisy Nell, “and her captain Karl Joyner raced her to victory. What a tribute to the old Essex schooners to have this modern recreation join us.”

Second, Gloucester’s flagship schooner Adventure celebrates its 90^th birthday this year. Built in Essex at the Story Shipyard in 1926, she is celebrating with a busy summer including welcoming thousands across her deck during the Festival weekend.

Third, this year’s Festival is dedicated to a great friend of the festival and to Cape Ann, Kay Ellis, who passed away earlier this year. Kay, with her husband Tom built the Schooner Thomas A. Lannon in Essex in 1997, and brought her to Gloucester Harbor to offer public sails and charters. Kay’s warm personality, business acumen, and commitment to promoting maritime heritage on Cape Ann are sorely missed. Their son Capt. Heath Ellis continues to operate the Lannon and will, once again, participate in this year’s races.

Despite the changes on the waterfront this year – Maritime Gloucester’s docks are being torn down in August — nearly twenty schooners have signaled their interest in returning to Gloucester to participate in the weekend. Maritime Heritage Day takes place Saturday, September 3rd from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm. This year Heritage Day will take place on Harbor Loop and under the First Ipswich Tent located in front of Maritime Gloucester. Maritime heritage organizations and area environmental groups and will be set up with interactive exhibits along with local crafters demonstrating their art. Music will be provided during the afternoon and lunch will be available on the pier. This is a great and fun event for families and visitors to Gloucester Schooner Festival weekend. Admission to the Museum will be free this day, and deck tours will be available on some boats, such as the Schooner Adventure, which will be berthed at the State Fish Pier. The event is followed by a Lobster Bake at the Gloucester House and Fireworks over Gloucester.

The race on Sunday includes the Esperanto Cup, the Mayor’s Award, Ned Cameron Trophy and the Betty Ramsey Trophy.

Lead sponsors of the Festival include: First Ipswich Bank, the City of Gloucester, Market Basket and Institution for Savings. For a full list of sponsors, go to the website. The Festival raises much needed funds from the community by offering Schooner Festival raffle in addition to corporate support. Please purchase raffle tickets (available at Maritime Gloucester) or during Maritime Heritage Day. These funds directly support our efforts to put kids on the water.