The beginning of the tall ship gatherings goes back to the decline of the era of sailing ships, when the "birds of oceans" were being replaced by motor ships on merchant routes. It was decided that sailing ships must be saved, and so they started to serve as sail training vessels.
In 1938, on the initiative of a Swedish captain Arnold Schomburg, the first rally of sailing ships was held in Stockholm, with the Polish Dar Pomorza participating. It was then that Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Germany and Poland established the Association of North-European Training Ships to work out plans and organisation of further meetings. Their plans were disrupted by World War II.
In 1955, an English solicitor and sailing enthusiast Bernard Morgan had the idea of organising a race of great sailing ships. The first races were held in 1956. With the acceptance of the First Lord of Admiralty and under the patronage of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 21 vessels started the race from Torbay, England, to Lisbon, Portugal. Some of the ships, like the Norwegian Christian Radich and Sorlandet or Swedish Falken and Gladan are still in service. The success of the event caused the races' organisational committee to be transformed into the Sail Training Association (STA) and entrusted with the organisation of the races every two years. Thus the idea of sail training was born.
The race became so popular that it started to be organised every year. In 1964, the first race across the Atlantic was held, from Plymouth through Lisbon and Bermuda to New York, with 15 ships participating. There was one leg, from Bermuda to New York, where they sailed not to win, but just in an informal group. James Mayatt originated an idea for the international crews to change vessels, and so such informal legs were called Cruise-in Company, and after some years they became a regular part of the races, as important as the races themselves. From 1972 on, the races were held under the name of The Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races, being sponsored by Cutty Sark Scots Whisky, with a logo of the Cutty Sark, the most beautiful and fastest tea clipper in the 19th century. The Races became a great festival for young sailors, as, according to the rules, half of the crew members must be 15-25 years of age. Cities open their gates for thousands of sailors of many nationalities, and sports and games, shanty evenings in pubs and streets attract also residents and tourists, who arrive specially to attend the event. It is a unique opportunity to plunge into tradition, to feel the atmosphere of life and work on old and new sailing ships who have experienced their renaissance lately, to "feel the wind in the sails" while listening to "sea tales" or watching the parades of ships leaving hospitable ports.
The Tall Ships' Races, however, are also a competition, and so there are prizes as well. The principal award - the Cutty Sark Trophy - a silver model of the clipper, is given by the masters of all the vessels in the fleet for "helping foster international understanding and friendship". The other award, the Cape Horn Trophy - a piece of rock from Cape Horn - is given for the victory among the largest sailing vessels (Class-A).
The first Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races in Poland, commonly though incorrectly called here Operation Sail (the name Americans gave to ocean races), were held in 1974 in Gdynia. However, it was two years earlier that a Polish sailing ship first participated in the Races and won; it was the Dar Pomorza. The main trophy, the Cutty Sark Trophy (now The Friendship Trophy) - apart from Dar Pomorza, who won for the second time in 1980 - also went to other Polish vessels: ORP Iskra, a Polish Navy training ship, in 1989, Pogoria, a STAP flag ship, in 1999, and the yacht Sharki in 2009. The Cape Horn Trophy, an equally prestigious award, went twice to the Dar Młodzieży, the Gdynia Maritime Academy sail training ship, in 1994 and 2001.
In 1976, a fleet of sailing vessels went to America to add splendour to the Declaration of Independence Bicentenary. Almost 5,000,000 people watched the parade on the Hudson River, and dozens of millions learned about it through mass media. This contributed to the event's world-wide prestige and caused a long queue of ports and countries waiting to be given the honour of organising the Races.
The year of 1984 was significant for Polish ships participating in the event. Another ocean race was organised to commemorate the 450th Anniversary of Jacques Cartier's voyage to Canada. During the race, a white squall hit the British ship Marques, sinking her in 2 minutes. The Polish vessel Zawisza Czarny withdrew from the race in order to go to her rescue, saving 8 members of the crew; unfortunately, another 19 died. The Zawisza Czarny was given a Fair Play Award by the International Oympic Committee for this action.
The Dar Młodzieży achieved another kind of fame while participating in the 1988 Operation Sail to comemmorate the 200th Anniversary of settlement in Australia: she went under a Sydney bridge under sail, which made thousands of viewers and the royal couple, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, hold their breath.
More and more often, the European Races were accompanied by world-wide events. In 1992, Gdynia hosted the fleet of sailing ships on 7-10 August, and this coincided with the Grand Regatta Columbus '92. The patronage of the Columbus Regatta, which started from Cádiz, was taken by Juan Carlos, the King of Spain, and the ending ceremony in Liverpool was held under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth II. Meanwhile, middle-sized vessels finished their Baltic Races in Gdynia, where they were received with invariable admiration.
In 2000, the host of the races was the city and port of Gdańsk. The ships berthed at Westerplatte, from where they started the races to Helsinki, Marienhamn, Stockholm and Flensburg.
Gdynia hosted the Races for the third time in 2003, being the starting port. Eighty-seven vessels, including twelve largest ones, with 2,677 sailors, participated in the Gdynia - Turku - Riga - Travemunde Races. The event was held under the name of The Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races for the last time, since the producer of Cutty Sark whisky withdrew from sponsorship. Together with the change in sponsorship, there was also the change in the structure of the main organiser.
In 2002, the Sail Training Association (STA) was transformed into the Sail Training International, an association of 20 national sail training organisations. The Sail Training Association Poland (STAP) came into being on 12 February 1993 on the initiative of seamen and sailors, among whom there were such names as the captains of the Dar Pomorza and Dar Młodzieży: Tadeusz Olechnowicz, Leszek Wiktorowicz, Mirosław Łukawski and Roman Marcinkowski, Captain of the ORP Iskra Czesław Dyrcz, masters of other Polish sailing ships such as the Pogoria, Zawisza Czarny, Henryk Rutkowski and Generał Zaruski, and yacht masters, eminent sailors, many times participants in The Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races. Since 2003, the main prize has been the silver plate of the Sail Training International Friendship Trophy, awarded for the same achievements as the Cutty Sark Trophy.
In 2006 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the tall ships' races. The event started in Saint Malo, where the participants of the 1956 Races took part in the parade, and then the sailing ships and yachts set out for the first leg, following the 1956 route from Torbay to Lisbon. The winner of The Tall Ships' Races 2006 was - like 50 years earlier - the Norwegian Christian Radich. The Races ended in Antwerp, a city supporting the races since 2004.
In 2007, Szczecin joined the group of Polish cities organising the event. The route of The Tall Ships' Races 2007 was Aarhus - Kotka - Stockholm, with Szczecin as the final port. The event attracted a record number of 96 vessels in Poland, and over two million spectators. The visitors spent 250 million PLN in Szczecin during the event, i.e. on 4-7 August.
On 2-5 July 2009, sailing ships and yachts came to Gdynia for the fourth time. It was the biggest event of this kind held on the Polish soil to date. The 2.5 million visitors, the fleet of 101 participating vessels and the beautiful summer weather made it a truly memorable event.
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