Schooner Festival Sails Off Into The Sunset

If you're racing a schooner, you want the wind in your sails to go full speed ahead. If you're launching a new event, as New London did this weekend with its first ever Schooner Festival, then slow and steady is going to win the race.

The five-day event that began in Mystic and moved to New London for three days from Friday to Sunday didn't bring crowds on the scale that the more established OpSail or Sailfest does but there was plenty of fun to be had, with concerts and vendors at the pier, boat tours, a schooner race, and more.

The Brilliant won the race handily on Saturday. "Not too many things catch her," said Jim Lobdell, whose schooner Malabar II came in second. Aside from being one of famed ship designer John Alden's personal boats, Malabar II's claim to fame is that she's the schooner featured in the movie "Message in a Bottle." 

Lobdell, who came from Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts for the event said he would definitely come back again. That's the kind of feedback event organizers were thrilled to hear because, "we've committed to doing it for five years," said event vice chair Kevin Cavanagh.

Most of the people who planned the Schooner Festival are also involved in organizing OpSail, so they know what it takes to launch and build a successful event. And though some people complained that there were no food vendors down at the pier, Cavanagh explained that was by design. 

Unlike some of the other riverfront festivals that keep people on the pier, The Chowder Challenge had people going from restaurant to restaurant to sample each of the different soups, which encouraged people to explore downtown New London and patronize the city's many restaurants. 

Now the first Schooner Festival is over, organizers are already thinking ahead to next year. The second festival will be held September 10-14, 2014.