Pallada

Bill of Rights

Tall Ships Island, Vancouver, BC

Zodiac

Lynx

The 2005 TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Race is a series of sailing races, cruises, crew rallies and maritime festivals organized by the American Sail Training Association in conjunction with seven US and Canadian ports on the Pacific Coast of North America.  

Nearly 60 traditionally-rigged sailing vessels from Canada, the US, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia and other countries are expected to take part.   They are crewed by young people (either civilians or cadets) ages 13 - 25 who are engaged in sail training programs under the supervision of captains and professional crewmembers.

The maritime festivals in each host port give visitors a chance to board the vessels and meet the crew and trainees and learn about the many varied opportunities to sail and travel on ASTA member vessels.   All seven host ports are planning a full program of cultural events, nautical displays and crew competitions – crewmembers and visitors will have plenty to do and see.

Racing is one of the most important components of the series. Historically, when two or more sailing vessels are found to be heading in the same direction, an impromptu race almost always ensues.  The crews pay closer attention to the other ships and to the trim of their own sails in
hopes of outdoing their counterparts.  

To take advantage of this natural competitive spirit and the heightened awareness and enthusiasm racing brings out in the young crews, four races are planned during the 2005 TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Series. Race legs will take the ships from Victoria, BC to Tacoma, WA; Port Alberni, BC to Oxnard, CA; Oxnard to Los Angeles; and Los Angeles to San Diego.

But how can you compare the racing of a 60-foot sailboat with a 240-foot sailing ship carrying 10 times as much sail area?   A special rating system developed in the European tall ships races is used to assign vessels of any size a relative performance factor.   This gives all vessels an equal chance of winning if they are sailed well.   Before the series starts, six pages of hull, rigging and sail measurements for each vessel are submitted to Sail Training International headquarters in England. They compute Time Correction Factors (TCFs) for each vessel using a program that has been fine-tuned over many years of competition.   After each race, the ASTA Race Committee multiplies the time it takes for a vessel to complete the course – its elapsed time – by its TCF in the race to determine the corrected time; corrected times are then compared to determine final standings.

Safety at sea is critical and each participating sailing vessel has been inspected and certified for its intended use either by a national maritime authority (the Coast Guard in the US) or by an internationally-endorsed society.   At the beginning of the season, the safety equipment on each vessel is double-checked by the ASTA Race Committee and any discrepancies are remedied prior to the first race.  

While underway, racers use VHF or SSB radio to keep in contact once or twice daily with the race communications officer on the escort vessel and often with the ASTA race office by satellite-assisted email.   Positions are noted and posted mapped on ASTA's “Follow the Fleet” ASTA web site so
that friends and family can follow the sailors' progress.

When the series starts, it is likely that not every trainee berth will have been spoken for – ASTA has a scholarship program and interested youth are encouraged to apply to sail in a race or cruise between host ports. Berths are also available for adults on a number of the participating vessels.