Schooners Stephen Taber and Lewis R. French race on Penobscot Bay. photo: Benjamin Mendlowitz

Both the schooners  Lewis R. French and the Stephen Taber were built in 1871.  To celebrate  their 140th birthdays, these grand old ladies will be racing from Camden to Rockland this Friday June 17 in an “1871 Schooner Showdown.”

A race of two historic schooners set for June 17

Visitors can watch up close from the deck of the schooner Olad, which will serve as race committee boat.

“We are the official start of the race,” said Olad Capt. Aaron Lincoln, who also marks a milestone this year with the 25th anniversary of Olad’s daysailing from Camden’s waterfront.

Both carrying overnight passengers, the Lewis R. French sails out of Camden, and the Stephen Tabor’s home port is Rockland. In their early careers the two working schooners transported lumber and coal along the coast. However, now their cargo relives a time gone past on the coast of Maine.

Coincidently, Lincoln, Garth Wells of the Lewis R. French and Noah Barnes of the Stephen Tabor are the youngest captains of the Midcoast schooner fleet, and they all acquired their vessels around the same time, seven years ago.