Race Report 1: The First Race Starts

Ideal sailing conditions provide a spectacular start to mark 60 years of Tall Ships Races.

The race start gate opened at 10:00 GMT/UTC (Wednesday 13 July) and within the hour most of the Class A ships had crossed the start line off Torbay today under ideal sailing conditions. Dar Mlodziezy (Poland) was first to cross, followed closely by Georg Stage (Denmark) and Mir (Russia).

The moderate north westerly winds and sunny skies created a colourful spectacle as the racing crews vied for position when crossing the line, some within minutes of each other.

Paul Bishop, Race Director, Sail Training International said:

äóìThese conditions have been welcomed by the fleet after a challenging transit over the past few days from Antwerp, with strong winds with gale force gusts at times. The Race Committee extended the start gate by 24 hours so the back markers have until 20:00 hrs tomorrow (Thursday 14 July) to cross the start line without incurring any time disadvantage to their race time.

“Sixty years ago the first Tall Ships Race started from Torbay and also raced to Lisbon. The conditions in Torbay could not have been more ideal to commemorate this historic occasion.äó

Photo: Simon Bolivar (Venezuela), Class A, at the start of the race, with Morgenster (Netherlands) under the bow and Ocean Spirit (UK) disappearing under the stern.