For some of us, there seems to be nothing that captures the spirit of summer better than sailing a small boat and sensing your life coming into harmony with sunshine, wind, and blue water, and – for the moment – being unable to think of anything else.
Here, you see the lucky novice students in the WoodenBoat School’s “Elements of Sailing I” class apparently doing just that Tuesday.
They’re learning to sail in the School’s 12 ½-foot Herreshoffs (with keels) and Havens (with centerboards), some of the most joyful vessels that ever got their bottoms wet.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on July 22, 2025.)