Tall Ships Race - City of Funchal 500 years

[J.Teixeira]

Flamouth (England) - Ilhavo (Portugal) - Madeira (Portugal)

Out at sea and entering the Aveiro harbour with them...











What a fantastic day out...

http://www.tallshipsraces.com/funchal500/index.html

Jose

[Love MACs]

Beautiful ships can't imagine the fun sailing in their wakes



Allan

[Tony D-26X_SusieQ]

Got to love the tall ships. If they are going to race them then they should paint the hull blue.

[LOUIS B HOLUB]

Tall ships are in a class of their own. There's just something special about those old classics.

[David Mellon]

I crewed a square rigger, the 92' barquentine Argus and had the opportunity to bend the top-gallant on the Star of India's foremast while docked. I gotta tell you, when you are well over a hundred feet above the deck with no safety lines you are a single minor mistake away from meeting posieden personally. You really learn respect for our "fore-sailers", these salts were as brave as any fireman or soldier. The movement at the crosstrees of the Argus in a storm was a mere taste of what a sailer would have endured furling the top-gallant aboard a real tall ship. May I suggest visiting a tall ship if you can, the Star of India is in San Diego, the oldest steel hulled tall ship afloat, and is a museum. As visiting Sea Explorer's (a division of The Boy Scouts) we got the grand tour. Beneath the cargo hold is a trolly system not unlike the one portrayed in the movie "The Great Escape" used to access the bilges which I really enjoyed. Over the years the hand holds atop the yards have been driven into the spars so deep you can't get your fingers under them, scary. If there is a docent it is always worth the time to take the tour.

[Doug W]

The Star of India is definitely worth a visit. So is Constellation. Someday, I'll get to board the Victory!

Getting to skylark in the rigging must have been a blast!