The majority of the 65 vessels that will be in Den Helder for the final four days of The Tall Ships’ Races have now arrived. Still to arrive are Jolie Brise (UK) which is due in today at 1800 hrs local time, Picton Castle (Cook Isles), due today at 1700 hrs local, Sørlandet (Norway) due this evening at 2000 hrs, Kapitan Glowacki (Poland) and Johann Smidt (Germany) due tomorrow morning and John Laing (UK), which is currently in Calvyn and has not yet advised their eta in Den Helder.
All day the vessels have been arriving and berthing in the various parts of the port. The Class C and D vessels are predominently in the Natte Dok, the Class B vessels and a number of the smaller Class A vessels are berthed along the Koopvaardersbinnenhaven, a canal that runs along the edge of the port, with the larger Class A vessels berthed in the Het Nieuwe Diep, or main naval marina.
Tonight at 1745 hrs a welcome reception will be held at the Naval Academy at which all the Captains will be presented to the event’s patron, His Highness Prins Maurits of Oranje-Nassau van Vollenhoven and Princess Marilene of Oranje-Nassau. Immediately after the reception, the opening ceremony will take place, followed by the Captains Dinner which is being held at the Kathedraal, Willemsoord.
August 20, 2008 | admin
A total of 15 vessels have now crossed the finish line with more expected overnight. Overall on corrected time, (Norway) remains in first place with Jolie Brise (UK) in second and now Sørlandet (Norway) in third. In Class A on corrected time, Christian Radich leads with Sørlandet in second place and Mir (Russia) in third. However, as there are more vessels yet to finish, this positions may still change.
In Class B on corrected time, the positions remain unchanged from this morning with Jolie Brise in first place, Moosk (UK) in second and Morning Star of Revelation (UK) in third for an all UK line up. In Class C, Akela (Russia) is in first place, Antwerp Flyer (Belgium) in second and Guadeamus (Poland) in third. St Barbara V II (UK) is in the lead in Class D with Rona II (UK) in second place and Thyra (Denmark) in third.
The vessels that have now crossed the finish line are: Akela, Antwerp Flyer, Christian Radich, Cuauhtemoc, Esprit, John Laing, Mir, Rona II, Spaniel, St Barbara V, Svanen, Thermopylae Clipper, Thyra and Urania. A number of these have gone direct to Den Helder while others will visit other ports before arriving in Den Helder on 20 August.
For the vessels in the more northerly part of the course winds are from the south east and 11-22 knots, decreasing to 6-15 knots. For those further south and approaching the finish line, winds are south south west, 14-20 knots, increasing to 16-32 knots.
August 17, 2008 | admin
The leaders in this second race of the series have remained unchanged overnight, while a number of vessels have crossed the finish line, with Akela (Russia) taking line honours.
Christian Radich (Norway) remains in the lead overall on corrected time with Jolie Brise, the Class B vessel, in second place overall and Statsraad Lehmkuhl (Norway) in third. In Class A on corrected time, Christian Radich and Statsraad Lehmkuhl are followed by the third Norwegian ship Sørlandet. In Class B, behind Jolie Brise is Moosk (UK) with Morning Star of Revelation (UK) in third. In Class C, Akela remains in first place with Black Diamond of Durham (UK) in second and Gaudeamus (Poland) in third. St Barbara V (UK) still leads Class D, with Rona II (UK) in second and Thyra (Denmark) in third.
Overnight a number of vessels crossed the finish line. The first across at just after 1900 hours GMT, was Akela (Russia). Others that followed later that evening or early this morning are: Mir (Russia), Thermopylae Clipper (UK), John Laing (UK), Esprit (Germany), Antwerp Flyer (Belgium), Rona II (UK), Thyra (Denmark), Svanane (Denmark) and Lietuva (Lithuania).
The weather forecast is for a continuation of south easterly winds of between 20 – 29 knots, decreasing to 15 – 22 knots for the next 24 hours. Over the next 48 hour period, winds will veer south south west 12 -17 knots, increasing to 18 – 26 knots, with isolated showers.
Late last night Clyde Challenger (UK) issued a mayday call as they were taking on water. All 13 crew members were taken off safe and well and the vessel is now on tow towards Den Helder. For the more details, click here.
August 17, 2008 | admin
The Class A ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl (Norway) remains in the lead overall on corrected time with Christian Radich (Norway) close behind in second and Cisne Branco (Brazil) in third. These three look set to battle it out between them for the honour of winning the race and their class.
Tecla (Netherlands) remains in the lead of Class B with Trinovante (UK) in second and now Far Barcelona (Spain) in third. Class C remains unchanged with Guadeamus (Poland) in the lead, Akela (Russia) in second and John Laing (UK) in third. The battle for Class D continues with St Barbara V and Rona II (UK) still in second and now Svanen (Denmark) back in third place, pushing rival and fellow Danish Naval vessel Thyra back into fourth – this is another battle that looks set to continue.
On the water a number have now rounded the first waypoint ten miles off Aberdeen and are now heading back down the North Sea towards Den Helder. Mir (Russia) remains in the lead with Cisne Branco now in second place and Statsraad Lehmkuhl in third. Others around the waypoint are Christian Radich, Cuauhtemoc (Mexico) , Eendracht (Netherlands) and Esprit (Germany)
The fleet are continuing to enjoy favourable north westerly winds of 12-18 knots which are set to continue for the rest of today. Tomorrow the winds are forecast to go round to east/south east and lessen slightly to 10-14 knots which will slow some of the square rigged ships down a bit.
The communications vessel, the Norwegian Coastguard Andenes was forced to be redeployed overnight to attend to some urgent coastguard duties, but Lord Nelson stepped in to take over the morning communication schedule, which delayed matters a little but hopefully things will be back to normal later today.
August 14, 2008 | admin
At the 1700 GMT position report, Statsraad Lehmkuhl (Norway) was holding on to her lead overall on corrected time with her Norwegian rival Christian Radich still hot on her heels in second place. In third is now Cisne Branco (Brazil).
In Class B the lead on corrected time has now been taken up by Tecla (Netherlands) with Trinovante (UK) now in second place and Moosk (UK) in third. The Class C leader is Gaudeamus (Poland) with Akela (Russia) in second and always a threat to the lead, and John Laing (UK) in third. Class D is another UK battle with St Barbara V (UK) in the lead with Rona II close behind. Behind them is now Thyra (Denmark) with her fellow Danish Navy vessel Svanen close behind them.
On the water Mir (Russia) continues to dominate the fleet with Cisne Branco also doing extremely well, while close behind her is Christian Radich with Statsraad Lehmkuhl still slightly north but closing the gap.
Winds have continued in a northerly to north-westerly direction 20 – 25 Knots which means the fleet have all been making good progress. However the forecast is for the winds to back from tomorrow and decrease slightly so progress may slow.
August 13, 2008 | admin
