Huge crowds attend Wooden Boat Festival in Newport Beach

Forty-three perfectly polished vessels, both on land and in the harbor, were on display Saturday at the second annual Wooden Boat Festival at the Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach.

The festival’s mission is to honor the heritage of Newport Harbor and the craftsmanship of wooden boats.

Thousands of attendees checked out the various designs and models of handcrafted wood boats during the seven-hour festival and voted for their favorite.

Some guests climbed aboard the 139-foot yacht America for a sail along the coastline. The wood boat is a replica, built in 1995, of the yacht that won the historic Royal Yacht Squadron’s “100 Guinea Cup” race around the Isle of Wight in 1851.

—Hannah Fry