Harlingen to Antwerp: Cruise-in-Company Update

This leg of The Tall Ships Race from Harlingen to Antwerp is a Cruise-in-Company.

This is a relaxed sailing voyage that gives crews the chance to unwind. Rather than focusing on competition, trainees can enjoy cultural exchange, and crew bonding whilst experiencing a slower pace of life at sea.

Trainees can look forward to visiting other participating ships, exploring local attractions, enjoying picturesque landscapes and sailing to sheltered bays and smaller guest ports along the way.

The Cruise in Company programme will be unique for each vessel, who will follow their own itinerary and offer different onboard activities. Some ships within the fleet place a greater emphasis on sail training, whilst others may anchor in shallow bays giving trainees the opportunity to enjoy water sports, swimming and exploring the surrounding coastline.

We caught up with Marcus Seidl, Captain of Statsraad Lehmkuhl to find out what he has planned for his trainees during the Cruise in Company programme aboard the largest vessel in our fleet.

What does the Cruise in Company programme look like for Staatsrad Lehmkul?

‘For us, the cruise in company leg is very different from most of the other ships.

We like to make sure our trainees get as much sailing as possible, as we know that they come here to experience sailing, not to be in port all of the time. So, we’ll be taking them out to sea, sailing north into the North Sea. Out there we’ll find an open area and train both our trainees and permanent crew and keep them warm ready for the next race leg.’

What can the trainees expect to be doing onboard as part of the sail training programme?

‘It’s everything you can imagine when it comes to running a ship. As soon as the trainees come onboard they will be assigned to a watch and will immediately begin their safety and watch post training, which will take a few hours as we sail out of port.

Then once we’re out in open water they will start taking over the watches and we will start training them on how to set the sails and sail the ship. It’s very effective and happens immediately. Because it’s such a large vessel with up to 140 trainees onboard, it takes time to work through everything we want to teach them. There’s always more we would like to teach before it’s time to get off at the next port.’

Here’s hoping for more favourable conditions at sea than we experienced on the last race leg.

‘Yes, hopefully! Looking at the weather report it’s just one of those summer things you know. Conditions change very quickly during the summer months, you never know, so we have to be prepared. But it’s exciting as always.’

Follow the fleet here: https://sailtraininginternational.org/yb-tracking-2026/