The Tall Ships' Races

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The Tall Ships' Races are races for sail training Tall Ships (sailing ships). Between 1973 and 2003 they were sponsored by Cutty Sark and called "The Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races". They are currently supported by the city, province and port of Antwerp. The races are held annually in European waters and consists of two racing legs of several hundred nautical miles, and a "cruise in company" between the legs.

Italian tall ship Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor, 1976.

1 Tall ships
2 The race
3 Race routes by year
4 Sail Training International
5 Some ships that have participated
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
9 See also

[edit] Tall ships

The phrase tall ship was coined to describe the participating ships. Participating vessels are manned by a largely cadet or trainee crew who are partaking in sail training, 50 percent of which must be aged between 15 and 25 and do not need any previous experience. Thus, tall ship does not describe a specific type of sailing vessel, but rather a monohull sailing vessel of at least 9.4 metres that is conducting sail training and education under sail voyages. Participating ships range from yachts to the large square-rigged sail training ships run by charities, schools and navies of many countries.

[edit] The race

The first Tall Ships' race was held in 1956. It was a race of 20 of the world's remaining large sailing ships organized by Bernard Morgan, a London lawyer. The race was from Torquay, Devon to Lisbon, and was meant to be a last farewell to the era of the great sailing ships. Public interest was so intense, however, that race organizers founded the Sail Training International association to direct the planning of future events. Since then Tall Ships' Races have occurred annually in various parts of the world, with millions of spectators. Today, the race attracts more than a hundred ships, among these some of the largest sailing ships in existence. The 50th Anniversary Tall Ships' Races took place during July and August, 2006, and was started by the patron, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who also started the first race in 1956.^[1]

[edit] Race routes by year

2011: Waterford (Ireland) - Greenock (Scotland) - Lerwick (Shetland) - Stavanger (Norway) - Cuxhaven (Germany)
2010: Antwerp (Belgium) - Aalborg (Denmark) - Kristiansand (Norway) - Hartlepool (UK)
2010: Volos (Greece) - Varna (Bulgaria) - Istanbul (Turkey) - Port in Greece (TBC)
2009: Vigo (Spain) - Tenerife (Canary Islands) - Bermuda - Boston (USA) - Halifax (Canada) - Belfast (UK)
2009: Gdynia (Poland) - St Petersburg (Russia) - Turku (Finland) - Klaipeda (Lithuania)
2008: Liverpool (UK) - Måløy (Norway) - Bergen (Norway) - Den Helder (Netherlands)
2007: Aarhus (Denmark) - Kotka (Finland) - Stockholm (Sweden) - Szczecin (Poland)
2007: Barcelona (Spain) - Genoa (Italy) - Toulon (France) - Alicante (Spai)
2006: Saint Malo (France) - Lisbon (Portugal) - Cádiz (Spain) - La Coruña (Spain) - Antwerp (Belgium)
2005: Waterford (Ireland) - Cherbourg-Octeville (France) - Newcastle-Gateshead (England) - Fredrikstad (Norway) - Torbay (UK) - Santander (Spain)
2004: Antwerp (Belgium) - Aalborg (Denmark) - Stavanger (Norway) - Cuxhaven (Germany)
2003: Gdynia (Poland) - Turku (Finland) - Riga (Latvia) - Travemünde (Germany)
2002: Alicante (Spain) - Málaga (Spain) - La Coruña (Spain) - Santander (Spain) - Antwerp (Belgium)
2001: Antwerp (Belgium) - Ålesund (Norway) - Bergen (Norway) - Esbjerg (Denmark)

[edit] Sail Training International

Sail Training International (STI) is the international association of some twenty-one national organisations devoted to promoting "the education and development of young people of all nationalities, religions and social backgrounds, through sail training". Besides organising The Tall Ships' Races, STI is the leading provider of races and events, conferences and seminars, publications, research and services for the international sail training community.

[edit] Some ships that have participated

Amerigo Vespucci - Italian Navy training ship
Asgard II - Irish sail training ship
Christian Radich
Cuauhtémoc - Mexican Navy officer-training ship (winner on two occasions)
Dar Pomorza - winner of 1972 and 1980 races
Eagle - Training vessel for the U.S. Coast Guard, most recently participated in 2005
Schooner Ernestina - The official vessel of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Esmeralda (BE-43) - Training vessel for the Chilean Navy, won in 1982 and 1990.
HMS Falken - a two-masted Swedish Naval training schooner
HMS Gladan - a two-masted Swedish Naval training schooner
Gorch Fock (built in 1958)
Johann Smidt (ex Eendracht) (German Wikipedia) - a two-masted German schooner, class B (length between 30.5 and 46.5 m) winner in 1992 and 2000.
Jolie Brise - a French pilot cutter, three times winner of the Fastnet Ocean Race, two times overall winner of the Tall Ships' Races. Owned maintained and sailed by Dauntsey's School.
Jens Krogh - a Danish gaff ketch
May Be - A 1920's Dutch sailing ketch which took part in the first tall ships race.
Morning Star of Revelation - a British 62ft gaff ketch
Sagita - A Danish schooner
Skibladner II - a Danish gaff ketch
Statsraad Lehmkuhl - a three-masted Norwegian barque
STS Mir - a three-masted Russian training ship.
Moosk - a 100 year old Cornish Yawl
Prince William
Seute Deern II (ex Noona Dan) (German Wikipedia) - a two-masted German ketch, former school ship.
HMS Trincomalee - Britain's oldest warship afloat. Will remain in Hartlepool where it was built
Stad Amsterdam - Dutch clipper, built as a charter and cruise ship. She won in 2001.