The U.S. Navy Academy Midshipmen are back in town, and this time they brought a bigger boat.

The sailors-in-training glided into the marina at Herreshoff Pier Friday morning on Summerwind, a 100-foot schooner built in 1929. Visitors to the Herreshoff Pier are welcome to tour the refurbished schooner, along with four 44’ training vessels docked at the marina. Tours Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., are free of charge.

The 51 midshipmen sailed into Bristol Friday around 10 a.m. on a training run up the East Coast. Six squadrons of ships will skirt the coast throughout the summer, making stops in Bristol and Newport, as well as Freeport and Marblehead, Mass., and Lockport, Maine. But only the squadron visiting Bristol has the bigger ship, giving Bristolians the chance to check out the larger vessel.

“It’s really neat to have the opportunity to have a boat like that in our program,” said Commander Marisa McClure, director of the U.S. Naval Sailing Academy. “It’s been completely refurbished. It’s the newest 1929 schooner out there. We’ll have tours Saturday and Sunday, and the midshipmen will be on duty both days to answer questions. We’re happy to be here and show off our program and our midshipmen.”

The ships the midshipmen train on are the newest offshore cruiser-racers for midshipmen training, according to the Naval Academy. Midshipmen began sailing in a fleet of 44-foot wooden yawls at the end of World War II. After 25 years, the vessels were replaced by 12 fiberglass yawls with the same design as the original, but including a diesel engine. 

The larger boat is the newest addition in the Naval Academy Sailing Squadron. The Summerwind, designed by John G. Alden, is on its maiden voyage as a member of the squadron. Originally built in 1929, the ship has undergone several rebuilds, including a carbon fiber mast and boom and hydraulic driven deck winches.

The midshipmen sailed into Bristol around this time last year, returning to a town that embraces them.

“This is a community that really loves sailing,” Commander McClure said. “It’s great to have the opportunity to explore communities up and down the coast. They toreat us great here.”