Eight tall ships raced from Cleveland to Pelee Island to promote Great Lakes protection

Eight of the tall ships departed Cleveland on Monday at the conclusion of the successful Cleveland Tall Ships® Festival, sponsored by the Port of Cleveland, The Rotary Club of Cleveland, to participate in the first race leg from Cleveland to Pelee Island.  This is the first leg of four Tall Ships® races that will take place in the Great Lakes this summer as part of the American Sail Training Association’s Great Lakes United TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® 2010 series.  The race has been termed “The Race to Save the Lakes”, as the ships sail with the message of water conservation and the preservation of the Great Lakes.

Pride of Baltimore II and LYNX were neck and neck at the start with a strong wind, only to have the wind diminish just short of the finish line.  Pride of Baltimore II was ahead by 6 miles when the race was called due to time expiration. The race was conducted within the guidelines of Sail Training International’s racing and sailing rules, which divided the fleet into two groups: Class A and Class B, C and D vessels.  The first group to cross the starting line (Class A division) included two International vessels, Bark Europa from The Netherlands and Roald Amundsen from Germany.  The second group (Class B, C and D division) included Pride of Baltimore II (USA), S/V Denis Sullivan (USA), Privateer Lynx (USA), and Appledore V (USA) as well as the brigantines STV Pathfinder and STV Playfair from Canada.  The race was approximately 30 nautical miles, ending Monday evening.

The American Sail Training Association is the hub for tall ship activity, expertise, and information in North America.  A 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization focused on youth education, leadership development and the preservation of the maritime heritage of North America, since 1973, ASTA has supported Education Under Sail and Youth Character Development aboard tall ships. It has been commended by U.S. Congress as the official Sail Training Organization for the United States, and represents over 200 member vessel operations in the U.S. and worldwide. It organizes the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Series, manages scholarship programs to make sail training experiences more affordable for young people, grant programs to assist crew of ASTA member vessels with the costs of professional development courses and licensing requirements and publishes SAIL TALL SHIPS! A Directory of Sail Training and Adventure at Sea.