The little windjammer now known as SWIFT snuck into Great Cove last week and snuck out after a few hours without me seeing her intriguing sail configuration. But here she is showing her rigging:
She hails from Camden, Maine, and was on a four-night private charter when she visited, according to her schedule. Among other names, SWIFT was once named ACTRESS, then CAPT. FRANK SMITH, and is now plain SWIFT. The latest names honor Captain Frank Smith, the person principally responsible for establishing the windjammer tourist trade in the state.
She’s a relatively small windjammer at a reported 57 feet of overall length. She has room for about six passengers and usually has a crew of three. In addition to private charters, she reportedly conducts sailing training and maritime education classes.
SWIFT is rigged as a hermaphrodite brigantine (aka half-brig). That is, when fully dressed, she’s got square sails on her foremast, but angular sails fore-and-aft on her main mast. This configuration reportedly was created to produce a vessel that had a good balance of speed and maneuverability, yet could be sailed by a much smaller crew than vessels with square sails on all masts.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 17, 2026.)