Chestertown, MD
October 23-November 2
Photos by Al Schreitmueller (unless noted otherwise)
One of the largest annual tall ship and wooden sailboat festivals on the East Coast, this year’s 14th Downrigging Weekend in Chestertown was marked by more than ideal wind, yet the sailors and thousands of festival lovers came anyway.
“It was a challenging weekend,” says Sultana Projects president Drew McMullen. “There was a tremendous gale, so we had to cancel our public sails.” The 1000-plus people registered for the public sails may have been disappointed, but it did not get in the way of their enjoying lectures, live music, wine tasting, art shows, parades, a 5K walk/run, kids’ games, and open houses.
“All the boats came,” says McMullen, who estimated 65-75 boats (it’s hard to obtain an exact count, as many “just show up”). Boats ranged in size from the 141-foot Kalmar Nyckel to a 12-foot Beetle Cat. The Pride of Baltimore II, Lady Maryland, and of course, host ship Sultana were among the beauties on display.
As much as it altered the schedule, McMullen said that the wind made the weekend memorable. “To hear the wind blowing through all that rigging on Friday night — there was more rigging in Chestertown that weekend than in Annapolis!— it was loud.”
To learn more about Downrigging Weekend and Sultana’s education projects for 2015, visit sultanaeducation.org.
