The United States Naval Academy will make its first formal appearance at the Sultana Education Foundation’s Downrigging Weekend Tall Ship and Wooden Boat Festival with a visit by the Naval Academy’s schooner SUMMERWIND. SUMMERWIND will arrive in Chestertown on Friday, October 28, and her Midshipmen crew will host free deck tours for visitors to Downrigging Weekend on Saturday, October 29 from 3:00-4:30pm at the Chestertown Marina.
SUMMERWIND was built in 1929 for a Wall Street banker who reportedly lost the vessel in the great stock market crash shortly after she was launched. In World War II, SUMMERWIND served as a sub hunter off the New England coast, but mostly she has been employed as a private cruising and racing yacht in the New England area. In the 1980s SUMMERWIND voyaged to Europe and was operated as a charter boat in the Mediterranean. In 2006 SUMMERWIND returned to the United States where she underwent a complete restoration and was ultimately donated to the United States Naval Academy Sailing Foundation where she is used to provide on-the-water training for Midshipmen.
SUMMERWIND’s appearance at Downrigging Weekend is occurring under the auspices of the United States Naval Academy Sailing Center, and with the particular help of Chestertown’s own John Wright, the Center’s Vanderstar Chair.
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