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The competition encourages young people international friendship, develop sailing skills, and work together with other countries.
The competition encourages young people international friendship, develop sailing skills, and work together with other countries.
THE TALL SHIPS RACES
The idea of an international race for sail training "tall ships", with crews drawn from cadets and seamen under training, was first discussed informally in 1953. It was Bernard Morgan, a retired London solicitor, who dreamed of having a Brotherhood of the Sea that would unite the world’s youth of seafarers together for a bit of friendly competition.
Morgan’s idea was that this would be an ideal way to mark what had been thought to be the end of the sailing age. The Portuguese Ambassador in the UK, Dr. Pedro Theotónio Pereira, agreed. He believed that a race like this could bring about positive relations between people from different backgrounds. The more they discussed the idea, the more the interest grew for it. It even drew in the First Sea Lord, Britain Earl Mountbatten, and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh.
From there, the committee was formed, and the race plans were on. The race was designed to run between Torbay in the UK and Lisbon, Portugal, back in July of 1956. All told, there were 20 ships. The British Moyana was the winner, but sadly it was destroyed in a storm on its way back to Southampton. The good news is that despite sinking to the bottom, all 23 of the men on board were saved, and the trophy was too.
Back then, this race was thought to be a one-off, but thanks to the attention it attracted from the press, the committee went for it again in 1958. From there, it was held every other year.
Now the race draws in from 70 to 100 ships while still giving young people in sailing the chance to experience this incredible challenge by making new friends, developing sailing skills, and working together with other countries. It’s also an annual event now and held every summer in the waters of Europe. It consists of four ports. There’s a race between the first two ports, then a cruise-in-company between the second and third port. The final race is between the last two ports. The host ports have social programs as well as sporting and cultural activities for the crews as well as all visitors that attend. There’s a fun carnival-esque Crew Parade plus an awards ceremony. It’s a bit unusual, but it’s entrenched in extreme history, and something yachting enthusiasts will love.