Rainbows Are a Spectacle to Admire
by Zoë Kirsch
The Rainbow Fleet Parade is this Sunday, August 16, at 10 am. An iconic, eagerly anticipated sail around Brant Point, it precedes Nantucket’s 37th Annual Opera House Cup Regatta. Watch or skipper!
Newcomers are welcome. Nick Judson of Nantucket Community Sailing (NCS), Parade sponsor organization, emphasizes the affair’s all-embracing nature. “This is a very inclusive event,” he asserts, “We want people to come out and join us. All ages can have fun.” If you have a Rainbow sailboat (known off-island as a Beetlecat), that’s all you need to participate. That, and an obedient nature, Judson, who sailed in the Parade as a kid, adds. “The only big rule,” he says, chuckling, “is follow the instructions people are telling you. Don’t go sail off into Never Never Land.”
NCS’s open invitation by no means signifies a small showing in years past. Consistently, thirty-five little boats have rounded the Point. A couple years ago, the Parade fell on a stormy day, complete with twenty-five-miles-per-hour winds. Still, one person mustered courage and strength, getting her miniature sailboat out on the water.
The Rainbow Parade has a fierce spectator following, too. Judson cheerfully explains the dynamic, “You’ve got the huge group that’s out there watching. It’s all these different people. The hope is they watch and go, ‘Yee! That’s fun. I want to do that next year.’ Maybe they’ll rent a boat and learn to sail. Hopefully the next year they’re actually in a Rainbow, racing.”
Sailors in charge of the vessels with brightly pigmented sails follow in the wake of Nantucket commanders past. Islanders have been sailing Rainbows since the crafts were introduced here in the 1920s. Commodore James Andrews and Vice Commodore Austin Strong were searching for the perfect training boat for young mariners. The two sent Old North Wharf boater Charles Collins to the mainland to find one, and Collins selected a John Beetle-designed catboat. Not long before, the New Bedford firm responsible for crafting this original Rainbow had provided Nantucketers whaling ships.
Outfitted with colorful sails even then, the newcomer boats were quickly put to good use, teaching young people how to sail. The Nantucket Yacht Club’s name became more commonplace as islanders took increasing notice of the Rainbows.
A photograph taken by H. Marshall Gardiner in 1930 inspired the concept of a Rainbow Fleet. The artistic piece shows ten Rainbows – green, deep yellow, red, old rose, blue, light yellow, and tan - rounding Brant Point. How were the boats so neatly lined up? Reveals Judson, “The boats were actually interconnected.” The photographer, along with Vice Commodore Strong, chose a day when waters were placid, too.
The Rainbows have been passed from generation to generation. Among the families to originally own the boats were the Pagons, Connells, Bollings, Lovelaces, Sawyers, Churches, Heckers, and Manvilles. Today, families active in the Rainbow Fleet Parade also include the Chandlers, Philbricks, Constables, Poors, and Halsteads.
The Parade’s origin is a bit enigmatic. Over the years, there has been casual parading of the Rainbow Fleet. Libby Oldham of the Nantucket Historical Association Library remembers the first time she watched the Fleet pass Brant Point, “Oh Heavens, it was probably in ’51. We were just down at the beach, down at Brant Point. It was a pretty thing to watch. We didn’t make a point of going; we just happened to be there when it was going by.”
It wasn’t until Alan Newhouse, NCS Founder, came along in the 1980s that the Parade became formalized as an event within the Opera House Cup. “Alan really pushed this whole parade concept,” reflects Judson. “He brought the whole Rainbow class of boat back to life. It had almost disappeared on Nantucket in the late ‘70s. He said, ‘We’re going to get these boats back out!’ He literally helped people get these aged wooden boats into the water. Rainbows need maintenance.”
Newhouse sought Parade participants in a creative manner several weeks before each year’s event. Having assembled ziplock bags containing stones for weight and notes for explaining the date and time of the Rainbow Fleet Parade, Alan deposited his messages in every Rainbow he saw in the harbor. Today, the ziplock bag messages are still dropped into boats. The small gesture is representative of inclusiveness. Traditions like these characterize the Rainbow Fleet Parade.
“When Sunday rolls around,” Judson says, “You’ll see all sorts of different generations sailing in these boats. You’ll have little tiny kids, and you’ll have grandparents. You’ll have everybody out there.” Young folks can partake in something that’s been around much longer than they have. Libby Oldham puts it best, “There’s a sweetness to it all; this is a spectacle to admire.”
For more information on the Rainbow Fleet Parade and other Opera House Cup to-dos, contact Nantucket Community Sailing at 508-228-6600.
