Falmouth was buzzing this afternoon as the public entered the port for the first time to see and step on board the Tall Ships fleet.
The Mayor of Falmouth, Kirsty Edwards, warmly welcomed everyone during an official Opening Ceremony. She continued:
“The port of Falmouth has a long history of hosting the tall ships and it is an honour to be welcoming these majestic vessels and crew back here. This will be the sixth time the Tall Ships have visited Falmouth since they first sailed into the harbour in 1966 and it is nine years since we last had the pleasure of seeing them.
Falmouth has, in fact, hosted the Tall Ships more times than any other port in the UK – a statistic that will not be lost on John Hick, Chairman of the Falmouth Tall Ships Association. John has been present at every one of those events and instrumental in ensuring that they’ve returned as often as they have. A heartfelt thank you to John.
Sail Training International’s Tall Ships Races are a wonderful celebration of sailing, young people and international friendship. This year we are joined by ships and their crews from as far afield as Mexico and Uruguay as well as Poland, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Wales and the UK, including 14 locally-grown Cornish teenagers”.
Race Chairman, Alan James, followed, thanking the people of Falmouth for such a warm welcome to the ships and spoke of the young people who are at the heart of sail Training International’s mission.
“This year alone,” he said, “in excess of 3500 young trainees and crew from all over the world will have had an experience on board a tall ship, where they will have not only learnt about life at sea but also learnt how to overcome challenges, work as a team and push themselves beyond their comfort zone. All of them will have made new friends and for some it will be a truly life changing experience”.
Such has been the popularity of the ships, the organisers have issued the following statement:
Richard Wilcox of the Falmouth Tall Ships organisers said; ‘There has been a phenomenal interest in visiting the Falmouth Tall Ships on the docks already, and as a result, we are currently experiencing very long queues. Today is now SOLD OUT for the ships visits on the docks. Pre-ticket purchase for Wednesday and Thursday is a necessity and then people MUST please attend in their allocated and purchased time slots. We are recommending that visitors do NOT arrive early to the docks. It’s great that there’s so much interest but we’re asking that everyone please pre-purchases their tickets and only comes at the allocated times on those tickets. There are lots of free activities all around the town, so please come and enjoy the best of Falmouth and admire the ships from all points of the port. Thank you.’
ABOUT THE TALL SHIPS RACES MAGELLAN-ELCANO
The Tall Ships Races Magellan-Elcano will see an international fleet of Tall Ships and Small Ships take in the Channel and Iberian Penninsula, visiting Falmouth (15-18 August), A Coruna (24-27 August), Lisbon (31 August -3 September), finishing in Cadiz (7-10 September)
The Tall Ships Races Magellan-Elcano series celebrates the first circumnavigation of the world by Ferdinand Magellan and Sebastian Elcano over 500 years ago.
As with every edition of The Tall Ships Races, the series will offer a range of sailing experiences for trainees and crews.
