Tall Ships Key Facts By Jack Lewis, Class 5G

Tall ships are very tall ships They are large traditionally rigged sailing vessels Modern vessels include schooners, brigantines and barques ‘Tall Ships’ can also be defined by an organisation, race or a festival General facts

Author and master mariner Joseph Conrad first used the term ‘Tall Ships’ He used the term in his works ‘In the mirror at sea’ in 1903 It is believed to be common parlance in the last quarter of the 19 th century General facts

Tall ships may have different traditional rigging – Square rigs and gaff rigs have separate top masts and sails Traditional rigging is more complex than modern rigging ‘Tall Ships’ were originally made from wood – Modern ‘tall ships’ are made from steel and aluminium. They have taller lightweight masts, with fewer sails Rigging

The Tall Ships races happen every year 50% of the crew have to be aged 15 to 25 years old The boats must must be ‘mono-hull’ and their water line must be 9.14 meters There are 78 ships in the 2014 race Tall Ships races

There are 15 nationalities represented – Norway, Germany, Belgium, UK, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, France, Denmark, Spain, Latvia, Estonia, Holland, Russia There are 6 military & 72 civilian vessels in the race The total length of all the ships would equal the length of 21 football pitches Tall Ships races

The smallest vessel is the ‘Zryw’ from Poland. It is 10 meters long and has a crew of eight The heaviest vessel to race was the ‘Kruzenshtern’ – It weighs 3,141 tons & is 113 meters long – In 2009 her foremast was damaged in a storm off the coast of Bermuda The oldest vessel in the race is the ‘Loyal’ from Norway, launched in 1877 Tall Ships race records

‘Kruzenshtern’ Tall Ship