Blog devoted to the international Tall Ships fleet, Sailing, Boating, Cruises, Travel & Adventure. Your comments, suggestions, ideas and contributions are welcome. Hope you find something interesting or useful. Thank you for visiting. TSR’s Updates courtesy of Sail Training International.
The young crew of Jolie Brise, the 17m long pilot cutter owned and operated by Dauntsey’s School, are having to endure towering waves and strong winds as they cross the Atlantic from Halifax to Belfast as part of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge. On board with skipper Toby Marris and First Mate Adam Seager are eight current or former Dauntsey School pupils aged between 16 and 18.
The vessel has taken part in all legs of the Atlantic Challenge since it started in Vigo, Spain in May this year. Jolie Brise won the first Atlantic crossing from Tenerife to Bermuda and is looking strong on the crossing back to Belfast.
Currently Jolie Brise is lying fourth overall and second in Class and on the current weather predictions, she should be crossing the finish line, north of Tory Island, off the north coast of Donegal, on the 10th of August. All the fleet are due into Belfast by 13 August for the final four days of the event.
“This voyage has been all about team work and perseverance,” says skipper Toby Marris from on board Jolie Brise, currently just under 1000 nautical miles west of Ireland. “The young crew on board are having an experience that it would take a life-time to repeat but moral is very high. The team of boys and girls from Dauntseys School are enjoying the hard sailing and their sense of humour is ever ready even when the waves are breaking overhead. They want to do well in the race, but the main motivation is to get to Ireland and Belfast as fast as possible to enjoy the legendary Irish hospitality. We have some more tough weather to get through before we cross the finish line and get to enjoy a pint of the Black Stuff as our reward.”
Built in 1913, Jolie Brise was the winner of the first ever Fastnet Race in 1925, repeating this achievement in 1929 and 1930 and is still the only vessel to have won the race three times. She is a frequent competitor in the annual Tall Ships’ Races, frequently winning overall and in class.
The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge is organised by Sail Training International. The fleet are due into the final port of Belfast on 13 August 2009.
Sail Training International has appointed Paul Reilly, 48, as its Chief Executive with effect from 1 November.
Much of Mr Reilly’s career has been with the Dutch international electronics company Philips where he has held a number of positions including most recently Vice President – New Venture Integration, Vice President and Managing Director Central Europe, and Director of International Key Accounts. He has also had other senior roles in marketing and brand management.
He has lived and worked in the Netherlands and Poland as well as the UK, and his most recent assignment involved working with Philips management in the Far East, Russia, the Middle East, the Americas and Europe.
“We had more than 200 applications for the CEO job and interviewed nine. We selected Paul Reilly because of his commercial and marketing strengths and international experience,” says Nigel Rowe, President and Chairman of Sail Training International. “We are not short of people who know about sail training and Tall Ships. So, we were looking for someone with significant commercial strengths in international marketing and business management as well as an empathy with the work we do. These qualities will help us drive our organisation to meet its full potential around the world.”
“The opportunity to help lead an international organisation that has the potential to grow and really a make a difference to the lives of young people is the big attraction of this job for me,” says Paul Reilly. “Sail training is a powerful tool for changing young people’s lives and Sail Training International has a strong record of achievement over the past few years. But it is also clearly an organisation that has many significant opportunities internationally that it has yet to fulfil.”
For further information contact:
Gwyn Brown
+44 (0)2392 586367
+44 (0)7802 640333
gwyn.brown@sailtraininginternational.org
The fifth and last race of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge got under way this afternoon at 1700 hrs local in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The 13 racing vessels took part in a beautiful parade of sail around the bay in front of Halifax, together with some other vessels that had been in Halifax as part of the festival. Led by local Tall ShipBluenose, the fleet circled the bay in front of a huge crowd of people, many of whom had set out chairs along the quayside hours before the official start of the parade.
The final vessel in the parade of sail was Kruzenshtern, looking slightly odd with her shortened foremast, but nevertheless impressive as her crew scrambled up the mast to prepare the sails to be lowered. The Portuguese ship Sagres looked particularly spectacular as she turned in front of the bridge in full sail and sailed past the cheering crowds and accompanying pleasure craft.
photo: Cisne Branco and Kruzenshtern
The 13 racing Tall Ships then made their way out to the race start area, some five miles off Hartlen Point. The conditions were good with south westerly winds of between 10-12 knots getting the fleet off to a good start. First across the line was the elegant Sagres with Capitan Miranda (Uruguay) crossing just 14 seconds behind her. Third across the line was Europa (Netherlands).
In the combined Class B and D start, Jolie Brise (UK) was quick off the mark and fast over the line. Second over the line and hoisting a bright yellow spinnaker, wasRona II (UK) with Belle Poule (France) in third.
Race control, which is on the Brazilian ship Cisne Branco, will now contact each ship every day to obtain their 1400 hrs GMT position. The fleet’s positions will then be mapped on the Sail Training International fleet tracking software, with their positions on corrected time shown in a table.
The fleet’s progress on the race can be seen via the fleet tracking
The list of all the vessels positions on corrected time can be viewed in the Vessel Positions Update
Further images are available from the Picture Gallery
July 12, 2009, St Petersburg – Vladimir Putin – the Chairman of the Government of Russian Federation – was guest of honour at today’s first-race prizegiving of The Tall Ships’ Races in St Petersburg.
Thousands of visitors including crews from over 100 tall ships from 14 countries turned out at the main stage situated at the spectacular location on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island to see Prime Minister Putin present prizes to competitors for the first leg of The Tall Ships’ Races series from Gdynia, Poland.
This Tall Ships festival, which runs for four days (11-14 July), has already gained huge political prestige in St Petersburg and the city, known as the marine capital of Russia, is honoured to be hosting the event once again.
Joining Putin in presenting prizes on the stage at today’s prizegiving ceremony was Valentina Matvienko – the Governor of St Petersburg, and Christer Samuelsson (Race Chairman).
The Tall Ships, including some of the largest square rigged vessels in the world such as St Petersburg-based Mir, Dar Mlodziezy from Poland, and the brand-new Swedish ship – Tre Kronor of Stockholm, are moored up along Lieutenant Shmidt Embankment on the River Neva, and roads along the waterside have been closed to allow the estimated one million-plus visitors the opportunity to take a closer look at these spectacular sail training vessels. Many of the ships are open to the public, and the crew – 50 per cent of which are young people between the ages of 15-25 years – are on hand throughout the festival to guide visitors around the ships and chat about their experiences of life at sea.
The Tall Ships’ Races, which this year started in Gdynia, Poland on Sunday 5 July, will continue with a cruise in company from St Petersburg on Tuesday 14 July through the Finnish archipelago to Turku, Finland. From there, the fleet will set off on 26 July to race its second leg of the series to Klaipeda, Lithuania.
A new race for sail training Tall Ships will be organised by Sail Training International next year. The North Sea Tall Ships Regatta 2010 will start in Hartlepool on the north west coast of England on 10 August and conclude in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on 19 August where the fleet and trainee crews will join in the Sail Amsterdam festivities. (Sail Amsterdam has been held every five years since 1975 and attracts about 2.5 million visitors over five days).
“Welcoming the Tall Ships fleet and its trainee crew members to Sail Amsterdam will be a great bonus for our event,” says Daan Meijer, Director of Sail Amsterdam. “The ships will add to the spectacle in the harbour for the visiting crowds, and the young crews will add to the colour and atmosphere of the event as well as having the opportunity to enjoy what the festival has to offer,”
“Organising a race for sail training Tall Ships to a major festival like Sail Amsterdam is a new departure for us. We will seek out other opportunities for similar arrangements with festivals that are organised at times that do not conflict with our regular schedule of races and regattas,” says Nigel Rowe, President and Chairman of Sail Training International.
The North Sea Tall Ships Regatta will be fourth event in 2010 organised by Sail Training International. The Garibaldi Tall Ships Regatta in April, from Genoa in northern Italy to Trapani in Sicily, celebrates the 200th anniversary of the unification of Italy. The Historical Seas Tall Ships Regatta, in May and early June, will be the first of what Sail Training International plans to be an annual series in the Mediterranean and adjacent seas. The regatta will start in Volos, Greece, and call at Varna, Bulgaria, and Istanbul, Turkey (European Capital of Culture 2010) before finishing in Lavrion, Greece. The Tall Ships Races, the traditional summer series event that began in 1956, starts in July in Antwerp, Belgium before calling at Aalborg, Denmark and Kristiansand, Norway and finishing in early August in Hartlepool prior to the start of the North Sea Tall Ships Regatta.
Four ports within the Baltic Sea, in Denmark, Finland, Latvia and Poland, have been selected to host The Tall Ships Races 2013, race organisers Sail Training International have just announced.
The start port will be Arhus, Denmark where the fleet will gather and all race formalities will be undertaken. From there the fleet will race to the capital city of Helsinki, Finland and then cruise-in-company to Riga in Lativa and then race once again to Szczecin in Poland. This combination of ports will take the fleet around the Baltic Sea, always a popular venue for the event and likely to attract a large fleet.
Firm dates have yet to be agreed, but it is likely the start from Arhus will be in early July, with the finish in Szczecin in early August.
Christer Samuelsson, for Sail Training International, said: “We are delighted to be visiting four ports that have all hosted the event in the past. In particular it is wonderful to have a capital city amongst those ports and Helsinki, with the Finnish archipelago nearby, will be an excellent port for the start of the cruise in company. As always there were many good ports bidding to host the Race Series in 2013 but these four ports offered the best combination.”
The port of Szczecin in Poland, has just been announced as being the Presenting Sponsor for The Tall Ships Races from 2010-2013. Hosting the event in their final year will be a culmination of their sponsorship and is sure to be a large and popular event.
Dates and more detail on planned arrangements will be announced later.
A fleet of Tall Ships have just raced across the Atlantic to Bermuda and are now berthed alongside in Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda, to celebrate the island’s 400th anniversary of settlement. The fleet of 23 Tall Ships with some 1200 crew members are enjoying the warm Bermudian hospitality before embarking on the third race of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge series to Charleston, USA, 800 miles away. The transatlantic race, which took the fleet from Tenerife to Bermuda, had to be called short because of the lack of wind, but the challenge and personal achievement for all those on board the ships, many of whom were young people under 25 years old, cannot be diminished. The fleet ranged from the 115m Russian Tall Ship Kruzenshtern, one of the biggest Tall Ships sailing today, to the 13m yacht Xsaar from Belgium. Also taking part were ships from Romania, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Bermuda and the UK, including Rona II and Jolie Brise, two UK vessels that were crewed by young people all under 25 years old. “The arrival of the Tall Ships fleet has been eagerly awaited by the people of Bermuda and the excitement has been building,” says John Wadson, Chairman, Tall Ships Bermuda Limited. “Ever since they were last here in 2000 to celebrate the millennium, we have been planning for their return and they are certainly one of the highlights of our 400th anniversary celebrations. It’s a real honour to have our own sail training vessel, the Spirit of Bermuda, participating in an international Tall Ships race for the first time,” he added. Space Link In a unique and historic link-up, a number of the young crew members who had just crossed the Atlantic together with some school children from Bermuda, talked to astronauts on the International Space Station in a live telephone conversation. The ten minute live link up took place in the presence of the Bermudian Minister of Education, the Hon El James, JP, MP and the Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Commerce, Hon Terry E Lister, JP, MP.
During the short window of opportunity when the International Space Station was directly above Bermuda, the crew members wished the Russian astronauts happy Russian National Day and the astronauts in turn congratulated Bermuda on their 400th anniversary. The three astronauts that took part in the telephone conversation, Russian Commander Gennadiy Padalka, Roman Romanenko and American Mike Barrett, then answered questions from the young people who were excited to talk directly to the astronauts as they passed overhead.
The questions asked ranged from the astronauts living conditions and leisure activities to muscle wastage and how they managed to wash. The astronauts answered the questions in good humour, explaining that while they had not managed to see the Tall Ships fleet as they crossed the Atlantic, they frequently looked down on Bermuda and enjoyed watching the tiny island in the Atlantic.
The astronauts explained that they were unable to surf the internet so communication with earth was not easy, but they did have an ability to send and receive messages through a mailbox system so could keep in contact with their families over the six month period they are in space.
One young Bermudian wanted to know what advice the astronauts had for the young people of the world. Commander Padalka replied that it was important to study hard, work hard and most importantly of all, to follow your dreams.
A Russian cadet from Kruzenshtern commented that on board ship it was not recommended to drink alcohol as this could have unfortunate repercussions so he wanted to know if there was anything that was best to avoid on the Space Station. The Russian Commander replied that in his opinion the worst thing that could happen for them was to stop moving because if that happened, the Space Station would fall to earth!
The direct link was the brainchild of the Russian Youth Aerospace Society “VAKO Soyuz”, which was created in 1988 to develop and implement national youth education aerospace programmes with the aim of increasing knowledge in the field of technical and human sciences, for peaceful space exploration and exploitation. Instrumental in the organisation of the link was space engineer Nathalie Pottier, a graduate of the Moscow Aviation Institute who has worked with the International Space Station and Launchers projects in Russia, United States, Netherlands, and France.
A short film of the astronauts sending greetings to the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge fleet can be seen:
The Tall Ships fleet will remain in Bermuda until Monday when they will take part in what promises to be a spectacular Parade of Sail around the island before departing in the race to Charleston, South Carolina. From there the ships will continue up the eastern United States to Boston and then on to Halifax in Canada, where a final race will bring the fleet back across the Atlantic to Belfast, where they are due for a final four days of festivities from 13 to 16 August.
The event, the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge, organised by Sail Training International, has been timed to coincide with Bermuda’s 400th anniversary celebrations and the fleet’s presence is forming part of the highlight of the year-long celebrations.
Ends
For further information and images, please contact Corinne Hiching, email: Corinne.hitching@sailtraininginternational.org, tel: +44 77641 83866.
Media & Publications Manager
Sail Training International
Direct tel: +44 1730 810437
Office tel: +44 2392 586367
Mobile: +44 7764 183866
The first leg of this year’s epic Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge is set to start on Sunday 3 May and the Tall Ships taking part in the event are now in Vigo, Spain. The 7,000 mile odyssey around the North Atlantic will see a variety of Tall Ships from Europe, South America and the US competing in an event involving seven ports, five countries and hundreds of crew members.
While in Vigo, the ships’ crews are preparing for the first part of the adventure which will take the fleet south-west to Tenerife, where more ships will join the fleet ready for the transatlantic race to Bermuda. The race across the Atlantic will take between three and four weeks to complete, during which time the crews will have to take it in turns to be on watch, helm, navigate and get the best out of their vessel.
Every day during the race, each vessel will be contacted by race control to establish their positions as at 1400 hrs GMT. These positions will then be plotted onto a map allowing friends and relatives to follow the fleet as they progress across the Atlantic. The fleet tracking can be viewed on www.tallshipsraces.org <http://www.tallshipsraces.org> . The class positions of the vessels will also be available on the website.
When the fleet arrives in Bermuda they will form part of island’s 400th anniversary, an event that is sure to make history. From 12 to 15 June the Tall Ships can be seen in Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda, before leaving in a spectacular Parade of Sail on 15 June.
A third race will take the Tall Ships to Charleston, South Carolina, USA. There the ships will form part of the Charleston Harbor Fest from 25 to 29 June before departing for another race up the east coast of the USA to Boston, Massachusetts where they will join Sail Boston from 8 to 13 July. A short hop up the coast to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in Canada where the Tall Ships Atlantic Fleet will gather from 16 to 20 July before departing for the second Atlantic crossing eastbound to Belfast, Northern Ireland, where they will have their final festival and prize giving from 13 to 16 August.
“This race series has been planned for a long time and we are delighted with the quality of the fleet, offering the opportunity to visit seven ports in one event,” said Bernard Heppener, the Chairman of the Race Committee. “The economic situation has meant some ships were unable to take part, but for those that are, the Challenge will provide their crews with an experience of a lifetime that will be unique and personal to each one.”
For the more adventurous, there is still time to sign up to sail on board one for one of the later races. No prior experience is necessary so as long as you have the spirit of adventure and a pair of deck shoes and shorts, you can be off to sunny climes. Imagine departing Bermuda on a Tall Ship surrounded by a flotilla of pleasure boats in the turquoise seas and racing to the southern charm of Charleston! Those with more time may like to experience the highs and lows of sailing across the Atlantic to Belfast on either a square rigged ship or one of the smaller and faster racing yachts that will be taking part.
More information on the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge can be found on www.tallshipsraces.org <http://www.tallshipsraces.org> where there will be regular updates, pictures and access to the fleet tracking.
Driving rain and increasing winds in front of an approaching cold front failed to dampen the spirits of those on land or those on board The Spirit of Bermuda – Bermuda’s first purpose built sail training ship – as she left the Atlantic Island this morning for her first Trans-Atlantic crossing to Europe. As the ship sailed out of Hamilton Harbour to the cheers of onlookers, John Wadson, Director of Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge; Tall Ships Bermuda and Sail Training Bermuda enthusiastically declared: “This is the beginning of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 Race!”
“This will be our most challenging voyage yet”, Malcolm Kirkland, Executive Director of the Bermuda Sloop Foundation added. “It’s our first offshore voyage operating in Northern latitudes, up to 40 degrees north, and we have purchased thirty ‘survival suits’ which takes us well over and above the safety requirements. This is all about a challenging, mission critical, operating community, with all the best safety “nets”.
First stop for The Spirit of Bermuda will be in Horta and then Ponta Delgada in the Azores and then Porto, Portugal, before the ship heads to Vigo, Spain for the start of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 Race on 3 May. That Portugal is her first port of call is significant in that the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 race is designed around Bermuda’s 400th Anniversary of Permanent Settlement and a large proportion of Bermuda’s strong Portuguese community originates from the Azores.
John Wadson, Malcolmn Kirkland, and Sutherland Madeiros, the Mayor of Hamilton joined an excited throng of family members, friends and supporters at dockside to bid the ship, its trainees, crew and captain ‘Bon Voyage’ as it sailed out of Hamilton Harbour in southwesterly 22 – 28 knot winds.
Bermuda Sloop Foundation official Jay Kempe said this first transatlantic leg will be something of a pilgrimage for the ship as the stop in the Azores will honour Bermuda’s strong cultural ties with those islands that began in the 1840’s. The pilgrimage will no doubt be especially meaningful to Portuguese-Bermudian Brian Bulhoes and his family. Brian, 16, is a veteran of the Public Middle School Waterwise Programme (Yr 1), the 5 Day learning expedition aboard The Spirit (Yr 3) and a world class U16 sailor. Though born and raised in Bermuda, his
large family hails from Ponta Delgada, San Miguel. He is looking forward to meeting other members of his family when the Spirit arrives there and his passage has been sponsored by D&J Construction, one of the Island’s leading construction companies.
Also crewing onboard The Spirit for this historic voyage are five Bermuda Regiment soldiers and three members of staff from the Department of Marine and Ports. “This is important for us”, said Kirkland. “These two institutions are strategic partners and offer important disciplined training for young Bermudians. We are really delighted to have them aboard.”
The Spirit of Bermuda has eight professional crew members under the command of Capt. Simon Colley and 15 trainees. Four seasoned public school students Vershon Simmons, 16; Michael Byron, 15; Cameron Joseph, 16; and Denzel Todd, 18, are on board for the complete round trip of two transatlantic crossings of some 7,000 nautical miles. Spirit will race from Vigo, Spain to Tenerife in the Canary Islands before embarking on the second race of the series to Bermuda. She will continue racing to Charleston, SC, then on to Boston MA and Halifax NS before returning to Bermuda to commemorate the actual landing of the crew and passengers from the ill-fated Sea Venture after her shipwreck on July 28, 400 years ago. It was this event that started the settlement of Bermuda.
Being on land for any length of time clearly doesn’t agree with single handed round the world sailor Dee Caffari. This Saturday 4 April she is going off-shore again, this time to hold a party for her 200 strong team at Spitbank Fort, the Victorian folly, one mile into the middle of the Solent.
Spitbank Fort is no ordinary party venue and clearly Dee wanted to get back to where she is most comfortable – with the view of the sea all around her. It is one of the UK’s most fascinating maritime treasures with a wealth of history and character. Currently a museum, the Fort is available to hire as a party venue and is no stranger to hosting celebrities having seen Davina McCall there last year to celebrate her father Andrew’s 65th birthday.
The awe-inspiring construction of granite and iron was commissioned by Lord Palmerston, and completed in 1878. It was originally equipped with a variety of armaments to defend Portsmouth Harbour from invading vessels that had managed to break through outer defences in the Channel. After twenty years, the role of the fort was changed to counter light aircraft instead of heavy warships with guns being fitted on its roof and searchlights installed to aid visibility after dark. Though always equipped for high level defence, Spitbank Fort never fired a single shot in anger.
Nowadays it’s the sound of laughter that can be heard as parties of up to 500 people can be catered for and accommodation is available for those that want to make a night of it. It’s also holds very popular Sunday lunches with a fully licensed bar and kitchen that can cater for any occasion. Fresh water is not a problem for the Fort. Through a 400ft well that goes down through the channel into the chalk aquifer, beautiful clear, fresh water is always on tap.
Getting enough fresh air is often a problem for guests and delegates at parties and events, but at the Fort you are never very far from some stunning views and refreshing air.
No doubt Dee won’t have any trouble navigating to the Fort but for the rest of us, ferries are available.
For further information on hiring the Fort for your party or business venue, visit the website: spitbankfort.co.uk, email info@spitbankfort.co.uk or telephone 01329 242077.
