That's the opinion of Tom Gallant, vice-commodore of the Nova Scotia Schooner Association (NSSA), which will be holding its 48th annual race week in Chester this year, in honour of the 250th anniversary of the village's founding.
Established by a group of schooner owners in Hubbards in 1961, the association's mandate is to preserve, maintain and further interest in all Nova Scotia-built schooners.
Mr. Gallant joined NSSA in 1979 after purchasing Avenger, a 54-foot schooner which was built by legendary Lunenburg County boat-builder David Stevens back in 1966.
He says the association's race week gives its members and guests an opportunity to "get together and flop around in our schooners.
"The racing is quite serious and great fun," Mr. Gallant says. "We never have protests and no one tries to hurt anyone else's boat because everybody knows how much love, energy and devotion it takes to keep these little old girls up."
He says that because most of the skippers have been involved in the association and raced in the event for a long time, they are aware of each other's capabilities.
"So, the racing is close," he says. "You know which boats you should be able to beat. We handicap the whole fleet, so it's possible for anyone in the fleet to win the trophy, from the little tiny boats to the big boats. We've got it set up in such a way that everybody has a shot."
While the number of participating boats usually falls in the 12 to 15 range, as many as 29 vessels have taken part in race week, which is open to anyone who sails a schooner.
Anyone else, however, who might have an interest in sailing on one of the participating schooners is also welcome to drop by.
"Everybody tries through the week to find a couple of people who are just kind of standing around on the dock with longing eyes to say, 'Come on for a sail' to," Mr. Gallant says. "So I'd say anybody who is really, really interested in looking into schooners and the rig, the way they sail and what the whole thing is like … would have a hundred per cent chance to get aboard lots of the boats and have a look around and all that, and they'd also stand a pretty good chance of getting a sail."
He says the whole idea is to get more people, particularly the younger generation, interested in schooners and sailing them in order to keep the tradition alive.
"You know we're getting older, the boats are getting older and we'd like to get some youngsters involved in this to keep them going," Mr. Gallant says.
Race week runs from August 2 to 8, with schooners being based at the Rope Loft restaurant in Chester.