What is the history behind The Tall Ships’ Races?
The idea of an international race for sail training ships, manned by crews drawn from cadets and seamen under training, was first informally mooted in 1953. Retired London Solicitor, Bernard Morgan had the dream of seeing a Brotherhood of the Sea, which would bring together the youth of the world’s seafaring people in friendly competition. He believed this would be a fitting way to mark what was considered to be the end of the age of sail. The more Bernard Morgan talked about the idea, the more sympathetic ears he found, firing the imaginations of many, including Earl Mountbatten, the First Sea Lord, and the UK’s Duke of Edinburgh. After much consultation, a Sail Training International Race Committee (STIRC) was established that made plans for a race between Torbay in the UK and Lisbon in Portugal in July 1956. Twenty vessels took part in that first race, divided into two classes, those over 100 tons and those under, with ships from Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, P
