Goodbye, Farewell, Au Revoir
Posted on 16. Aug, 2009 by admin in Latest News
The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge fleet left Belfast today in a beautiful Parade of Sail that saw most of the ships under sail. Led by the Portuguese Class A ship Sagres, the fleet started to depart at 12.30. As she progressed down the lough, Sagres gradually put up her sails until she was in full sail by the time she reached Fairway Buoy and the two saluting vessels of HMS Mersey and LE Eithne. Looking beautiful in the blustery conditions and sunny spells, Sagres disappeared over the horizon as she continued towards Lisbon.
Behind Sagres, the rest of the fleet followed with the crews waving goodbye and saying a big thank you to Belfast for hosting them as well as waving a fond farewell to their colleagues and friends on the other vessels who have shared the highs and lows of the past months. They take with them a lifetime of memories of an event that saw them sail some 7,000 nautical miles, sometimes in hot still conditions and at times in stormy rough weather, but always with friendship and a love of the sea. Many friendships have been formed over the past months which will no doubt last a lifetime.
Many of the ships and crews will be back together again next year at at least one of Sail Training International’s four events, the Garibaldi Tall Ships Regatta, the Historical Seas Tall Ships Regatta, The Tall Ships’ Races and the North Sea Tall Ships Regatta. For more details of these events, click here.
Further images are available from the Picture Gallery.
The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge is organised by Sail Training International with the American Sail Training Association.
With thanks to 
Freight forwarding agents to Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009
and 
Weather forecast providers to Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009.
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