Celebrating sail training in 2006!
Posted by Peter A. Mello, Executive Director on April 21, 2006
In 2006 there is a lot to celebrate in the world of sail training and tall ships!
Fifty years ago a London lawyer, the Portuguese ambassador to the UK and several other interested Brits organized the first European Tall Ships races. Their intent was to mark the end of the Great Age of Sail. Instead, their actions marked the beginning of a new era of Tall Ships where these beautiful wind powered vessels stopped carrying commodities like grain and lumber and started carry precious human cargo for education, training, leadership development and adventure travel.
Thirty years ago the first Tall Ships race came to America to celebrate our Bicentennial. The American Sail Training Association (ASTA) was founded in 1973, in part, to co-organize this major event with the Sail Training Association (UK). One leg of the race ended in Newport, RI and forever changing the City by the Sea, ASTA’s homeport.
Today, tall ships still excite and inspire us. They have an incredible ability to change young lives through deep water sailing experiences and to change communities when a fleet or a single ship visits.
There is a lot to celebrate in 2006!
Tall Ships Today! » Blog Archive » A Vote for the Nobel Peace Prize said
[...] I started this blog several months ago and my first 2 posts were wrote about the 50th Anniversary Tall Ships Races which were taking place in Europe this summer as well as Sail Training International’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. [...]