Pride of Baltimore II is a historically-evocative reproduction of the Baltimore Clipper style vessels made famous during the War of 1812. Capturing public imagination through unique worldwide voyages of discovery, Pride II honors Maryland seafarers of all eras and, wherever she sails, shares the innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, and patriotism that forged and continues to define Maryland's maritime identity. Since her commissioning in 1988, Pride II has sailed over 275,000 nautical miles and visited more than 200 ports in 40 countries. Her mission is to promote historical maritime education, foster economic development and tourism, and represent the people of Maryland in every port she visits.

Pride of Baltimore is excited to be competing in the fourth annual Virtual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race! This year they are racing to raise money for their "Planks for Pride" campaign. Most of us require a little more maintenance as we get older. Well, so do ships. This winter, while the ship was in dry dock for winter work and inspections, it was discovered that some of Pride’s planks are starting to deteriorate. The deterioration isn’t so severe as to affect the integrity or safety of the ship immediately. However, those planks need to be replaced. Right now, it looks like Pride will go to a dry dock next spring for the plank work.

This plank replacement work was an unexpected expense, so the Pride team launched this fundraising campaign, Planks for Pride. The goal is to raise funds to put toward the six-figure cost of the plank work.

Welcome to the 2023 Virtual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race!

While normal sailboat racing happens on the water, this race is completely online. Each participating schooner has teamed up with a nonprofit partner, and is racing to raise as much money as possible for their charity. YOU can participate in the race by choosing a schooner, making a contribution, and sharing this webpage with your family and friends! 90% of gifts will go directly to the charity of your choice. The other 10% will help the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race achieve its mission to promote awareness of the Chesapeake Bay’s heritage; to encourage preservation of the Bay’s resources; to support Chesapeake Bay education and clean-up efforts; to bring historic schooners to the Bay; and to encourage schooner sailing and preservation. 

Please take a moment to learn more about our schooners and the organizations they support. At the start of the race, please come back here to make a donation and support your team!

Donation links will be available from 12:00 noon on Wednesday, August 23 through 3:00 PM on Saturday, August 26. 

Thank you for supporting our schooner community!

Please note: The Chesapeake Bay schooner community could not exist without people like you, and we're eager to keep in touch. GCBSR will share your contact information and notification preferences with the charity you donated to.  If you do not wish to be contacted by GCBSR, please opt out of communcations on the donation form.