The Liberty Star is a USCG inspected wooden schooner built in 1982
Sparred length: 67’
Length on deck: 52’
Draft: 8’
Mast height: 76’
Displacement : 52 GRT
Sail plan: gaff-rigged schooner
COI: 42 persons (including 3 crew)
Originally christened the Rachel B. Jackson, the Liberty Star was commissioned in 1972 in Harrington, Maine as a private sailing yacht. In 1982, a Maine shipwright named George Emery purchased the hull and completed the vessel. He named her in honor of his grandmother, who had lent him the money to purchase and complete the schooner. Built as a working replica of an 1890s coastal schooner, her sturdy mahogany planking, oak frames, traditional pine and fir decking, shining brass fittings, and exotic wood cabinetry recall the workmanship of days gone by.
She was originally put into service as a training vessel at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT. In the mid-1980s, the Seaport sold the vessel to a family who outfitted her and spent three years sailing around the world. Upon the completion of her circumnavigational voyage, she was sold to another family in Maine who took guests on day sails and showed her at tall ship events. In 2000 she represented the state of Maine in the Tall Ships 2000 race from Bermuda to Boston, and then on to Halifax, Nova Scotia. At one point, the ship was chartered by the National Geographic Society to do whale research off the coast of the Dominican Republic.
In the spring of 2012, the Liberty Fleet of Tall Ships found the Rachel B. Jackson in dire need of help in Belfast, Maine and decided to save the ship. On April 2, 2012, Liberty Fleet purchased the vessel and spent the next four months and 6,000-man hours rebuilding the ship. The Liberty Fleet rechristened the ship the Liberty Star.
