The Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Race is a long-distance race for sailing ships. The races were originally sponsored by Berry Brothers and Rudd - marketers of Cutty Sark Scotch Whisky (the Cutty Sark being their trade mark as well as a preserved tea clipper lying at Greenwich in London). The race is 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

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. Trainees are non-professional sailors mostly between 16 and 25 years of age. Thus, tall ship does not describe a specific type of sailing vessel, but rather the purpose of training and sail education to which that vessel is dedicated. Participating ships range from yachts to the large square-rigged training ships run by Navy and fishery authorities of many countries.

The race

The first Cutty Sark Tall Ships' race was held in 1956. It was a race of five of the world's remaining large sailing ships organized by Bernard Morgan, a London lawyer. The race was from Torquay, Cornwall to Lisbon and back, 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 hundred ships, among these some of the largest sailing ships in existence.

Sail Training International

Sail Training International (STI) is the international association of some twenty 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' Race, STI and its subsidiary organisations manage trainee programmes aboard sailing ships.

Some ships that have participated

• Amerigo Vespucci — Italian Navy training ship
• Dar Pomorza
• Gorch Fock

Reference

• Harry Bruce, Tall Ships: an Odyssey (Toronto, 2000)
• American Sail Training Association, Sail Tall Ships (Newport, 2000)

External links

• http://www.sailtraininginternational.org
• http://www.tallshipsraces.com
• http://www.cuttysark2003.com