Tall Ships come in all shapes and sizes but any one of these majestic traditional vessels can offer festivals an opportunity to create an amazing spectacle and engage the public in a unique way.

Their shorebased organisations are as individual as the ships themselves, and we at Tall Ships Global are able to help event organisers liaise with our extensive international network of Tall Ships. No matter how big or small you are planning your maritime festival to be, we can advise and help.

The ships can be broadly categorised into 3 groups :

• Naval tall ships
• State-owned tall ships
• Foundation/independently operated

The Backgound

The first Tall Ships Race from Dartmouth to Lisbon was organised by the Sail Training International Race Committee (later the Sail Training Association, ISTA and now STI) in 1956 and was the brainchild of a London solicitor, Bernard Morgan, who with help from many others, not least His Excellency Senhor Tonio Pezeira, the Portuguese Ambassador in London at the time, helped make his dream into a reality. They thought that it would be the last opportunity to gather these 'anachronistic' vessels to race under sail.

Since then, the international Tall Ships fleet has grown and there are well over one hundred vessels in service today which frequent maritime events. They can be broadly categorised into three groups:

Many navies have a long history of operating Tall Ships to train their cadets, midshipmen and officers. In the high-tech and enclosed bridge environment of today, Tall Ships can offer an effective training platform which is superb at developing traditional but relevant seamanship skills and teamwork for the modern world. The sea can be one of the most challenging environments to work in and naturally instils its own discipline. As well as highly effective training platforms, naval Tall Ships circle the globe in order to represent their countries. They transform into floating embassies whenever they visit ports and open their decks to the public who they welcome in their thousands.

There are many magnificent naval Tall Ships. Some have been commissioned in recent years, such as the elegant 70-metre clipper ship Shabab Oman II which was launched in 2014. Others were built nearly one-hundred years ago: for example, the majestic Spanish four-masted Juan Sebastian de Elcano which was launched in 1927. South America has the most spectacular fleet of naval Tall Ships of any continent. Many visit Europe on a regular basis and undertake circumnavigational voyages to provide their crews with challenging training and promote their country on their world tours. There is nothing quite as impressive as a naval Tall Ship coming into harbour with its yards manned by its uniformed crew and the South American navies are renown for doing this spectacularly well!

Navies currently operating Tall Ships include:

• Algeria – El-Mellah
• Argentina – ARA Libertad
• Australia - Young Endeavour (navy operated for civilian trainees)
• Brazil – Cisne Branco
• Chile - Esmeralda
• China - Polang
• Colombia – ARC Gloria
• Dominican Republic – Juan Bautitsta Cambiasto
• Ecuador - Guayas
• France – Belle Poule and Etoile
• Germany – Gorch Fock II
• India – INS Sudarshini and INS Tarangini
• Indonesia – Bima Suci and Dewaruci
• Italy – Amerigo Vespucci and Palinuro
• Malaysia – Tunas Samudera
• Mexico - Cuauhtemoc
• Oman – Shabab Oman II
• Pakistan - RAH Naward
• Peru – BAP Union
• Poland - ORP Iskra II
• Portugal – NRP Sagres and Creoula (navy operated for civilian trainees)
• Spain – Juan Sebastian de Elcano
• Sweden – Gladan and Falken
• Uruguay – Capitan Miranda
• Venezuela – Simon Bolivar
• Vietnam – Le Quy Don

There are also many Tall Ships around the globe that are state-owned which train cadets in their Merchant Navies, Fisheries, Coastguards and other organisations. They are also highly effective training platforms and are excellent at developing seamanship skills and teamwork at sea. Many also have the secondary function of representing their nation.

Countries currently operating state-owned Tall Ships include:

• Bulgaria – Kaliakra
• Denmark – Georg Stage and Danmark
• Japan – Nippon Maru II and Kaiwo Maru II
• Poland – Dar Mlodziezy
• Russia – Kherzones, Kruzenshtern, Mir, Nadezdha, Pallada and Sedov
• USA – Bark Eagle (US Coastguard)

Those Tall Ships that are not state-owned or operated by navies, are run by foundations, charities and other independent organisations. They offer young civilians (and for those young at heart!) a mixture of long and short adventurous voyages. Many regularly take part in The Tall Ships Races (organised by Sail Training International) and appear at other maritime events and international festivals. These include:

• Australia – Bark Endeavour, Lady Nelson, Leeuwin, James Craig and Windward Bound
• Canada – Bluenose II and Picton Castle (Cook Islands registered)
• Czech Republic – La Grace
• Denmark – Loa
• Finland – Helena
• France – Belem, Etoile du Roy, Hermione and Kraken
• Germany – Alexander von Humboldt II, Grossherzogin Elisabeth, Roald Amundsen and Thor Heyerdahl
• Japan – Miraie
• New Zealand – Spirit of New Zealand and R Tucker Thompson
• Norway – Christian Radich, Sorlandet and Statsraad Lehmkuhl
• Poland – Fryderyk Chopin and Pogoria
• Portugal – Santa Maria Manuela and Vera Cruz
• Russia – Shtandart
• Sweden – Gunilla and Tre Kronor af Stockholm
• The Netherlands – Artemis, Eendracht, Europa, Gulden Leeuw, Loth Lorien, Mercedes, Morgenster, Oosterschelde, Stad Amsterdam, Thalassa, Tolkien and Wylde Swan
• UK – Pelican of London, TS Royalist and Tenacious
• USA – Brig Niagara, Elisa, Gazella and Oliver Hazard Perry