The Hunter Sailing Association is planning to celebrate the Sailstice again this year! Sue Reitz posted the event to the Sailstice map already. Their members are mostly based in the middle Chesapeake Bay, ranging from Solomons in the south to the Magothy River in the north. This year’s Sailstice event marks 10 years of their participation! This year’s theme for the Hunters on the Chesapeake will be Bahamian Refreshments. Boaters will join the fun for a share-a-dish potluck of Bahamian food, island libations, and swimming.
This year’s Sailstice event is just one week following the Hunter Rendezvous in Baltimore that celebrates 50 years of Hunter sailboats - over a hundred Hunter sailboat owners will gather! But the Hunters on the Chesapeake have been planning fun Sailstice events for years. Hunter 40 Legend, WindRose, took a five-day Sailstice cruise in 2013, meeting up with the Hunter Sailing Association Sailstice cruise in downtown Baltimore. Then in 2018, the Hunter Sailing Association gathered for another Chesapeake raft up, despite bad weather on the forecast. The Hunters gathered again in 2019 for a raft up at Waterhole Cove was complete with a wine tasting contest!
Hunter sailboats are popular - looking back over the years, there are many other Hunter boat owners who celebrate this Sailor’s holiday. SV A Little Nauti went out on Fort Berthold Bay, Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota for the 2010 Summer Sailstice! Their fleet included Hunter 33.5 Utopia, Hunter 34 Gone With the Wind, and Hunter 37.5 Legend Hideout. In 2019, Susan Myles Bland won a portable SailStep boarding ladder for her Hunter 37.5 out of Mobjack Bay, Virginia. Susan sailed the Sailstice again in 2022 on Mobjack Bay and a night on the hook in the Ware River aboard Wanderlust, Susan's 1994 Hunter.
Take a peek at some of the prizes from previous Sailstice years, and post your event for a chance to join in the fun!
