Summer Sailstice (& your summer solstice playlist)

20 Jun Summer Sailstice (& your summer solstice playlist)

When you live for summer, the summer solstice is a big deal. It’s the official start of summer and the longest day of the year. It’s always one of our favorite days to be on the water, and we’re not alone. There’s a special event for sailors to celebrate the season: Summer Sailstice.

About the summer solstice

But first, a little about the summer solstice. It occurs on the day the earth’s poles are tilted closest to the sun. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, that’s usually between June 20 – 22 (the southern hemisphere has its winter solstice at this time). The summer solstice marks the beginning of astrological summer.

In Latin, solstice means “sun standing still” – a reference to the fact that the sun appears to linger at its highest point in the sky for the year at midday on the summer solstice. Humans throughout history have celebrated the solstice with rituals such as bonfires and ceremonial dances to mark the passage of the seasons. Which takes us to the celebration of summer and sailing – the Summer Sailstice.

Sailing + solstice = Sailstice!

Summer Sailstice began in 2001 as an annual worldwide celebration of sailing held on the weekend nearest the summer solstice. Founded by John Arndt, publisher of sailing magazine Latitude 38, the stated mission of Summer Sailstice is inspire a weekend of sailing events that celebrate sailing and help bring new people to the sport. In Arndt’s words, “The simple but audacious idea is to have the whole world signed up and sailing on the first summer weekend.”

Summer Sailstice is not just one event; it’s a whole weekend designated for doing sailing related things, wherever you happen to be. On the weekend of June 23 and 24 many sailing schools, yacht clubs, sailing organizations and all kinds of other groups who love sailing will be either organizing a Summer Sailstice event or participating in one. In a way, we’re all out sailing together.

How do you get involved? You can start by checking out the Summer Sailstice website for events near you. Sign up on the site to share where and how you plan to sail this weekend. You can even create your own event, but the simple idea is just to get more people out sailing.

To celebrate the Summer Sailstice, we put together a playlist that expresses our joy in all things sunny, summer and sailing. Queue this up for on-the-water summer vibes or your post-sailing enjoyment. Either way, summer feels are guaranteed.

You can listen here by clicking on any of the songs in the list, or subscribe to the playlist on Spotify. And for you music nerds out there, here’s the complete list in alphabetical order by song.

Summer Sailstice – Summer Solstice Playlist

Happy summer, happy solstice, happy Sailstice, and happy sailing!

Did you enjoy this playlist? If so, check this out: Sailing Songs – The Ultimate Sailor’s Playlist