The fleet of the Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta 2018 hoisted their sails and paraded across sunny Dublin Bay, Ireland towards Dun Laoghaire on Monday 4 June. They then made their way to the official race start area for the second and final race of the Regatta which will take them south of Bordeaux, France.
The start line for Race Two was formed by two waypoints and the official start today (Wednesday 6 June) was a Start Gate window at 12-1300 UTC/GMT. Vessels were not allowed to cross the Race Start before the opening of the Start Gate and Captains were required to record their Start Time on a declaration form and inform Race Control, sailing on Class A Tall Ship Belem (France)
“All Tall Ships in the Race Two fleet crossed the Start Line off the south east coast of Ireland on schedule in a light easterly breeze and are currently making just under four knots towards the first waypoint off the Scilly Isles. The new trainees have had a couple of days on board training in the benign conditions since they departed Dublin in the spectacular Parade of Sail on Monday afternoon. This gave them a good chance to adapt to life at sea and prepare themselves for the 470 mile race across the Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay.
“First to cross the Start Line was the beautiful brig Morgenster from the Netherlands with the two-masted topsail schooner Belle Poule and the 27 metre gaff ketch Arawak from France close behind. De Gallant and the magnificent three-masted barque Belem from France were next to cross with Atyla at the tail end.
“The wind is forecast to remain light from the east to north east before becoming calm and variable over the coming days which should mean a slow but tactically challenging race all the way to Bordeaux.”
Paul Bishop, Race Director, Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta 2018
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ABOUT THE THREE FESTIVALS TALL SHIPS REGATTA 2018
The Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta is a two-leg event with an international fleet of Tall Ships racing across three sea areas in north-west Europe, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay. . Liverpool, United Kingdom (U.K.) was the start port, then vessels raced to Dublin, Republic of Ireland (R.O.I), and on to Bordeaux, France where the leading European wine festival, Bordeaux Fête le Vin is also being held.
Photo: Class A Tall Ships Morgenster (Netherlands) in the Parade of Sail. She was the first vessel to cross the start line in Race Two.