New Tall Ships Regatta for 2011

A special Tall Ships Regatta is being organised by Sail Training International in 2011 to mark the Finnish city of Turku’ year as the European Capital of Culture. The Regatta is open to trainees of all ages. 

The Culture 2011 Tall Ships Regatta will be timed to follow on from The Tall Ships Races 2011 and so extend the Tall Ships event season into September. Together with Turku, Klaipeda (Lithuania) and Gdynia (Poland) have agreed to be host ports for this spectacular event. 

The event will start in Klaipeda, Lithuania, with a four day festival from Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 August. The fleet will then race across the Baltic Sea to Turku, Finland, where they will form the centrepiece of the city’ celebrations as European Capital of Culture during the weekend of Friday 26 to Sunday 28 August. From Turku the fleet will again race back down the Baltic Sea to Gdynia, Poland for a final four day festival from Friday 2 to Monday 5 September. 

The event will feature the cultural activities and highlights of each city with special tours organised together with visits to art galleries, museums and historical sites of interest. Trainees from the age of 15 years upwards are invited to take part. 

Whilst no upper age limit is placed on trainees, the ships and host ports will be encouraged to recruit young people between the ages of 15 to 25 and to place an emphasis on recruiting trainees from cultural groups such as dance troupes, bands, artists and singers. Vessels that took part in The Tall Ships Races Baltic 2009 will already be aware of the warm and friendly atmospheres of these three ports. A similar welcome can be assured in 2011. 

The Notice of Race for this Regatta has now been issued and can be downloaded here. The Race Entry Form will be posted shortly.