Tall ship

A tall ship is a large traditionally rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. Traditional rigging may include square rigs and gaff rigs, with separate topmasts and topsails. It is generally more complex than modern rigging, which utilizes newer materials such as aluminum and steel to construct taller, lightweight masts with fewer, more versatile sails. The term tall ship has come into widespread use in the mid-20th century with the advent of The Tall Ships' Races. While Sail Training International (STI) has extended the definition of tall ship for the purpose of its races to embrace any sailing vessel with more than 30 ft. (9.14 m) waterline length and on which at least half the people on board are aged 15 to 25, this definition can include many modern sailing yachts, so for the purposes of this article, tall ship will refer to those vessels rated as class "B" or above (Fore and aft rigged vessels between 100 to 160 feet in length, and all square rigged vessels). The well-known poem "Sea Fever" by the English Poet Laureate John Masefield contains the line "And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by", inspired by the poet's experience of serving in sailing ships during his youth.^[1]

Gallery

Kaskelot at the 2004 Bristol Harbour festival in England.	Kajama, a tourist tallship sailing in Toronto Harbour, Lake Ontario	The defining feature of square rigged tall ships - going aloft to set and stow sails.	The Earl of Pembroke
More than 36 tall ships participated in the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in Portsmouth, part of the fleet of 167 naval, merchant and tall ships from 36 countries	The masts and yards of a brig, a typical tall ship.	The Canadian schooner Maple Leaf, traditionally rigged, with a gaffed foresail, a square fisherman, and Marconi (fore-and-aft) main, staysail and jib.

See also

• American Sail Training Association
• Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Race
• Sail training
• Tall Ships Challenge
• Jubilee Sailing Trust
• List of tall ships

References

Further reading

• American Sail Training Association; Sail Tall Ships! (American Sail Training Association; 16th edition, 2005 ISBN 0-9636483-9-X)
• Thad Koza; Tall Ships: A Fleet for the 21st Century (Tide-Mark Press; 3rd edition, 2002; ISBN 1-55949-739-4)

External links

• Tall Ships' Regatta 2008
• American Sail Training Association
• Tall Ships Today!
• Sail Training International
• Tallships Australia, site providing information on tallships principally based in Australian and New Zealand waters.
• Tall ship pictures published on USENET stored with a search function.
• Tall-ship pictures for personal/commercial use.
• Maritime Heritage Network, an online directory of maritime history resources in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
• University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Transportation Photographs An ongoing digital collection of photographs depicting various modes of transportation in the Pacific Northwest region and Western United States during the first half of the 20th century.