Atlantic Challenge USA is a non-profit program based in Belfast, Maine.  It is part of an international global network of community boatbuilding. and offers rowing and sailing programs based on the use of Bantry Bay gigs.  Atlantic Challenge provides opportunities to young people for personal development and intercultural understanding through the experience of gathering to row and sail traditional open boats.

Arista Holden, Executive Director, Atlantic Challenge USA, Belfast, Maine
Arista Holden is a licensed captain who has been teaching sailing since the age of 15, beginning in Rockport, Maine and continuing with organizations including Outward Bound, NOLS, the Nova Scotia Sea School, the WoodenBoat School, Morse Alpha Expeditions, the schooner Mary Day, and the Viking vessel Polaris. She first joined Atlantic Challenge as a crew member on the Russian team during the 2002 Contest in Rockland, Maine. Since 2010, Arista has trained the Atlantic Challenge USA team and led Bantry Bay gig programs. She became a founding board member of Atlantic Challenge USA in 2019 and now serves as its Executive Director.

This is the second lecture of eight in the 2026 Summer Lecture Series. The lectures will be held on Wednesday evenings at the Bath Freight Shed (27 Commercial St, Bath Maine). The recording will be available below and on YouTube shortly after the lecture.

The lectures are free, but if you consider them valuable, please donate to Maine’s First Ship in person or online.