When the first Tall Ships' Races were organized in 1956, organizers intended them to be a requiem for the giant sailing vessels of old. Since the advent of the steam engine and the building of the Panama Canal, the ships had become a dying breed, slowly wasting away in harbours around the world.
But the Torquay to Lisbon race in 1956 changed everything. The race, showcasing 20 vessels from ten countries, generated unprecedented public interest, a media frenzy, and buyers with deep pockets. Since then, Tall Ship races and conferences have been organized every year, and participation has grown dramatically.
At the 2007 Baltic Sea races, concluding at a conference in the Polish port of Szczecin on August 4-7, over 115 ships are participating, from 20 countries.
"It is the only event of its kind, where Tall Ships actually race against each other on the open ocean," says Mira Urbaniak, lead organizer of the Szczecin 2007 Tall Ship conference. The competitors are expected to complete the last leg of the Baltic race, from Stockholm to Szczecin, by July 30, with the conference awards and festivities to commence on August 4. Urbaniak expects that 1.5 million spectators will attend the event.
One of the world's most colourful sailing ships will be in attendance: the Mexican Navy's cadet and officer training vessel, the Cuauhtemoc. "It parades into port in an exceptional way – the sailors stand on the yards [spars from which the square sails are hung], while distinctive Mexican music fills the port with song," boasts Urbaniak.
The Malaysian Navy's Tunas Samudera Tall Ship will also participate, complete with yard-standing sailors. It arrived in Europe for the first time to participate in the Baltic Races, as part of an around-the-world tour. The Baltic Races run concurrently with a series in the Mediterranean.
Sail Training
The ships' crews are largely youth, 6000 of them, from over 30 different countries, who are also being schooled on the vessels. The ships' owners are typically foundations with a shared goal of fostering 'sail training,' namely educating young people amidst the hardships of life on the seas.
"Their intent isn't to train sailors, but rather to raise people with the sea-inspired values," says Urbaniak. She has sailed Tall Ships around the world many times over, going as far as Antarctica, and teaching many youth along the way.
It is no surprise then that at the Tall Ships' Races, the spirit of camaraderie, and putting on a good show for spectators, takes precedence over being the fastest. Some legs of the Races are not competitive, with crew members encouraged to exchange between ships.
"The top award for the event is for creating an atmosphere of friendship and cooperation, rather than for winning the Races," says Urbaniak.
"The captain of the largest ship, the Sedov, has as much authority as the captain of the smallest participating craft."
The Russian behemoth Sedov, in the Guinness World Book of Records as the world's largest traditional Tall Ship with a hull measuring 118 meters (385 feet) in length, will dock in Szczecin alongside vessels as small 9 meters (30 feet), the minimum span required for participation.
"It's the atmosphere that interests people. The social dimension fleshes the whole thing out. For the sailors themselves, it's a time…to develop friendships, swim and share some food on the grill," she explains. And, the general public gets to participate in that.
'Sailing and Freedom Are my Life'
"The most important things in life are keeping one's freedom, as well as one's personal and career independence," says Urbaniak. It's this spirit that she wants to share with the sail-trained youth.
Indeed, in her life, Urbaniak has accepted few compromises. She's an adventurer in the true sense of the word. Her "first love" was the Polish three-masted Tall Ship, the Dar Mlodziezy ("Gift of Youth"). On the Dar, which spans 95 meters (310 feet), she cruised around the globe, even into North America's Great Lakes. As fate would have it, her first love will celebrate its 25th anniversary at the Szczecin conference.
Yet another ship attending is the Fredrick Chopin, a Polish sail training vessel spanning 44 meters (144 feet), on which Urbaniak once taught high-school students history, geography and Russian language during a half-year voyage.
Apart from her work as an educator, Urbaniak is also the Editor-in-Chief of Gdansk Radio, and has worked for a variety of Polish media including a sailing magazine. She's also a sort of celebrity on Polish central coast, in the Pomerania region. The population of the area once voted her one of the ten most popular inhabitants of the area.
"What's most important for me is to prepare the Szczecin contingent," says Urbaniak. Thirty-seven of the city's young sailors have already been competing in the Races on the city's two participating ships, the Dar Szczecina and the Magnolia. In the 2006 Races, the 18 meter (60 foot) Dar Szczecina was the fastest ship in its class.
Polish participation in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races (so-named after the events' main sponsor at the time) began in 1972, when the Dar Mlodziezy's prececessor, the Dar Pomorza, won the races. Two years later, the ship's home port, Gdynia, became the first Polish port to host the final ceremonies conference. Currently, the Tall Ships' Races main sponsor is the Belgian city of Antwerp.
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