ROCKLAND — Maine filmmaker Doug Mills announced in a press release Monday that he has launched fundraising campaign to raise money to release his newest film, Race the Wind, in the spring of 2016.

This film is the second in Mills' windjammer documentary series and was filmed with Maine's historic windjammer fleet over the last three years.

The second in the windjammer series, Race the Wind is a documentary film capturing the history - along with the grace and beauty of Maine windjammers - many of which are more than 100 years old as they sail in the Great Schooner Race. 

Every summer since 1977, the Maine Windjammer Association has hosted the Great Schooner Race, providing an opportunity for captains, crews and passengers aboard traditional vessels from all over the Eastern Seaboard to rendezvous for a fun day of racing some of the most historic vessels in America. The history of racing these magnificent wooden coasting schooners started over a century ago with sailors trying to beat their competitors to market. The first boat back to port always got the best price for their cargo - perhaps fish, lumber, granite or even Christmas trees. The "Race" was always unspoken, but ever present.

The Great Schooner Race is hailed as "the largest annual gathering of traditional schooners in America," but is considered “quirky” because it is one of the only sailing events in the world that requires to prior sailing experience on the part of the participants.

The golden age of sail is long gone, but on the coast of Maine the golden age of the Maine windjammer is at its height. There was a time when sail was king on the coast of Maine. The lime trade, granite and marble, lumber from virgin forests, ice and the fishing trades all employed sailing craft to move their products. The lime trade alone employed more than 200 two-masted schooners in Rockland and the surrounding coastal Maine towns. Steam powered vessels were making some of the longer trans-Atlantic runs, as well as the passenger trade up and down the coast. However, for coastal trade and the hundreds of islands located just off the coast of Maine, sail is still king.

On any given day, the coastal waters would be filled with these two masted schooners delivering cargo to and from all the coastal towns. They were the lifeline for those living on the islands, delivering everything from lumber to butter and even your grandfather's new Sunday suit. Today only a handful of those sailing vessels remain. Many of them were simply used until they were worn out and replaced by a new one. During the Great Depression, thousands of these boats were just abandoned where they stood and left to rot. There is, however, a place where during the summer and fall you can still see these historic vessels sailing the clear blue waters the Atlantic much the way they have for the past 200 years - Penobscot Bay. And many of these boats have been sailing for over 100 years. They are truly living history.

Click here to help fund the film and earn some Race the Wind swag.