London was the starting base for that year’s Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race, which took participants off the Thames and across the bottom of the North Sea to Hamburg. From there, in Race 2, the boats headed to the nearby port of Cuxhaven, along the west coast of Denmark, and around the Skawa to Malmo in southern Sweden; many of them then traveled on a company cruise to Travemunde.
Before the start of the race from London, 122 sailing ships of all shapes and sizes were moored along the Thames south of Butler’s Wharf, at the London Pool, at Tower Bridge and at the old docks downriver. Many large ships were present, including the world’s largest square riggers: Kruzensbtern, Mir, Sedov, Alexander Von Humboldt and many others.
The forest of masts was a sight that had not been seen in the capital for decades and is unlikely to be seen again; A few miles downriver, a new bridge under construction will prevent larger vessels from sailing into the upper reaches and into the heart of the city.
At Rouen, the main port of departure for Paris on the River Seine, 22 full-rigged ships, barques, and brigs, as well as a host of smaller training ships, were moored along the quay walls in the center of Paris. this famous cathedral city, 75 miles (120 km) from the sea. Les Voiles de fa Liberté (‘Sails of Uberty’) had come to help celebrate the most important event in France.
important anniversary to date, its Bicentennial.
These great ships, some of which had slipped out of London to take part, created a magnificent sight and by the time they majestically sailed up the Seine towards Honfleur, more than 3 million people had traveled to Rouen to see them.
The sight of a ship fully rigged and with all the canvases up and running across the ocean is one thing. Being able to see them up close and being able to climb aboard when they are open to the public is another: their rigs are massive, draped in ropes and lines that seem to come from all angles.
Despite modern technology, many of these boats still use old-fashioned hemp ropes and Stockholm tar, a black gummy liquid extracted from pine trees that is used to coat the rigging, spars, and hulls of some wooden ships to
keep out the weather.
The sweet, antiseptic smell of tar permeates the air, hanging over the fleet as a pleasant reminder of voyages in the dark, distant past.
Cutty Sark sailing regattas began in July 1956, when a fleet of 21 sailboats from 11 countries raced against each other from Torbay, England, to Lisbon, Portugal. Most of these ships were once engaged in trade and had recently been converted for sailing training, but their future seemed uncertain and the purpose of bringing them together for this event was to celebrate the end of the age of sailing.
Two years later, bolstered by the success of the first event, these boats, joined by others, set sail again. The organizers, the Comité Internacional de Regattas de Buques Escuela de Vela, recognized that there was indeed a future in sailing adventure training.
As race followed race, it was clear that these events were more about providing adventure and broadening the horizons of young people than paying homage to the past. New square rigged ships were specially built (Gorch Fock in 1958 for example) and continue to be built today to provide the opportunity to put to sea for a limited time.
periods periods.
The idea is not so much to teach young people how to sail a ship, although that is inevitably the case when ships are owned and operated by the various navies; but more to foster international understanding, to provide the opportunity for young people to develop confidence in their own abilities and foster team spirit, in an environment free from the constraints of life on land.