BTJ 5/2011 - Baltic Press

Tall ships bid farewell to the summerEventsDuring the last weeks of the summer time some of the world’s biggestsailing ships took part in The Culture 2011 Tall Ships Regatta.Sailing ships returned to the Baltic Seasooner than expected. Although everyevent is planned four years in advance,this particular one was organized bySail Training International in a much shortertime. The Finnish city of Turku, which is thisyear’s European Capital of Culture, came upwith the idea of the regatta, aimed at markingits status as well as promoting the cultureof the Baltic Sea region’s countries. LithuanianKlaipėda and Polish Gdynia were invited toco-host the event. The regatta started on 18 thAugust, when the participating vessels gatheredin Klaipėda; the route of the first race led toTurku. The finishing line of the second one wasin Gdynia, where the whole event ended with afinal parade of sail on September 5 th .Sedov and Kruzenshtern, which are thebiggest training ships under sail in the world,Dutch Thalassa, easily recognizable because ofher characteristic figurehead and her blue hull,Zawisza Czarny, which celebrated its 50 th anniversary,and Gulden Leeuw – a golden lion fromthe Netherlands were among the 20 ships of anA to D class, which took part in the event. Therace was also an occasion for the meeting of sisterships: Russian Mir and Polish Dar Młodzieży.Both were designed by Zygmunt Choreń andconstructed in Gdańsk Shipyard. Gdynia welcomedthe participants with sunny and warmweather, which lasted for all final four days of theregatta. The forest of masts towering over PresidentBasin, where the ships were docked, attracteda lot of tourists, who strolled on the quays tillthe late evening hours. All vessels opened theirdecks to visitors and their crews took part in acolorful parade on the streets of Gdynia.The trophies for the main race and thenumber of special and additional ones wereawarded on the stage located on the beach soonafter the parade. Mir was the winner in ClassA, Tecla in Class B, 4 Oceans’ Dream in Class Cand Fujimo in Class D. Dar Młodzieży won theFriendship Trophy and was also awarded theTeapot Trophy – a special prize donated andpresented by Zygmunt Choreń to the winnerof the race between two sister ships. The CultureRegatta ended with a traditional parade ofPhoto: Ewa Grzybowskasail. One after another the tall ships left the portto take their positions on the waters of the bay.The sails were set and the sailing ships passedby the shore of Gdynia, watched by amazedspectators. Then all vessels got their bearingson their destinations, either to start a new journeyor to return to their homeport. The festivalseason of tall ships definitely came to an end. Ewa Grzybowska5/2011 | Baltic Transport Journal | 55