The first race of
the Culture 2011 Tall Ships Regatta is underway. The fleet had earlier left Klaipeda watched by thousands of people along the quaysides and headland. The largest ship of the fleet, Sedov (Russia) received rapturous applause from the quay as a pair of tugs pulled her gently from her berth.
The fleet made their way out to the start line some five nautical miles offshore. In light winds, the ships crossed the start
line in two groups – first the Class A vessels, then followed fifteen minutes
later by Class B, C and D vessels, who started together.
The course they
will now follow is approximately 330 nautical miles and finishes approximately 70
nautical miles from Turku.
First across the
line in Class A was Mir (Russia) well ahead of Shtandart (Russia) who
crossed the line second. Thalassa (Netherlands)
followed in third.
In Class B Johann
Smidt (Germany) crossed first, ahead of Nadezhda (Russia) and Tecla
(Netherlands) who fought a close battle for second and third place.
In Class C, St Iv (Estonia) crossed first, with 4 Ocean’s
Dream (Poland) and Camelot (Poland) in second and third respectively.
Bylina (Russia)
crossed first in Class D, followed by Fujimo (USA) and Akela (Russia) third to
cross.
The leaderboard will be updated after the twice daily position reports. Click here to see the latest positions.
To track the fleet in real time, click here
pic: Mir crossing the start line
The Culture 2011 Tall Ships regatta is organised by Sail Training International