After the 4th of July festivities in New York City, the international tallship fleet continued its tour of the eastern seaboard, heading up to Boston. For four of the ships, however, it was more than a simple cruise north.
Among the international tallship fleet are five Class A sisterships: Eagle, the U.S. Coast Guard barque known as “America’s Tall Ship,” NRP Sagres of the Portuguese Navy, Mircea of the Romanian Navy, Gorch Fock II, the German Navy’s flagship training vessel, and Gorch Fock I, which is permanently docked in Stralsund, Germany and serving as a museum.
Built by the Blohm & Voss yard in Germany starting in 1933, these ships have been a part of nearly a century of maritime history, including changing hands as war reparations after WWII. Gorch Fock I and Mircea were seized by The Soviet Union, while The United States took custody of Eagle (then known as Horst Wessel) and NRP Sagres (then Albert Leo Schlageter). NRP Sagres was then sold to the Brazilian navy who sailed it for nearly 15 years before selling it to the Portuguese navy, which continues to sail it to this day. Mircea, which had been commissioned by Romania, was returned to them within a few years and has remained with Romania ever since. In 1958, Gorch Fock II was built as a replacement for the original, which wouldn’t return to Germany until 2003.
In 1976 for the American Bicentennial, all five sisterships gathered for the first time and raced from Bermuda to Newport before participating in the New York parade of sail. Gorch Fock II won the event and has held the Tiffany trophy ever since. Dubbed the Five Sisters Cup, the race was meant to be a regularly held event, but this past weekend was the first time in fifty years that these ships—minus their retired sister—raced together again.
Somewhat shorter than the previous ocean-crossing course, this summer’s Five Sisters Cup traced a path around Cape Cod before reuniting with the tallship fleet for a parade into Boston. Because they are all similar in design, there was no handicap, but the captains acknowledged that differences in length and displacement would offer advantages to some, depending on the conditions.
Ultimately, with a time of 7 hours, 26 minutes, and 52 seconds, Gorch Fock II was once again crowned the winner.
For more on the international tallship fleet and their visit to the United States, visit sail4th.org
