Marine / Steady stream of vessels sign up early for Tall Ships
SIXTEEN vessels from eight different nations have already signed up to participate in next summer’s Tall Ships Races.
Lerwick is one of the host ports for the 2023 event. It is hoped that around 50 ships will ultimately take part.
Two popular visitors to Lerwick Harbour, the Statsraad Lehmkuhl and Christian Radich, are among six ‘class A’ ships that have officially signed up since registration opened earlier this summer.
Both are Norwegian registered vessels and between them they can accommodate over 200 trainees and 60 crew members.
Joining them will be a quartet of ships from both Belgium and Poland, two Danish ships and one vessel apiece from Germany, Latvia and the Netherlands.
Shetland’s own sail training ship Swan has also signed up.
The largest vessel to confirm so far is the Dar Mlodziezy, a Polish ship measuring 109 metres and weighing some 2,255 tonnes.
When Lerwick last hosted the races in 2011 there was a fleet of 52 ships and, although numbers were somewhat lower in 2022 on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic, organisers are expecting a similar number of ships to come on board next year.
Shetland Tall Ships manager Emma Miller said there had been a steady stream of sign-ups already, and that is likely to continue through the winter as publicity for the event increases.
“It’s really exciting to see ships actually starting to sign up, because it makes the event feel all the more closer,” she said.
“It’s great to see the class As coming on board, because it’s such a fantastic spectacle when they’re in the harbour, and the smaller ships too, because they offer such a brilliant and personal sail training experience to young folk.”
Lerwick will be a host port for the 2023 Tall Ships Races between 26-29 July next year. It is the third time it has hosted the fleet following previous visits in 1999 and 2011.
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