| Date Posted: 30th October, 1999
Subject: Royal Gazette Article by Ben Greening
12/10/99
|
Applications
for places on board vessels taking part in next year's Tall Ships' Race have been coming
in a ``steady stream'' according to to its local organisers.
And, after playing host to a delegation from the International Sail Training
Association last weekend, Tall Ships 2000 - Bermuda has confirmed that preparations for
the event are going well.
Organised bt the I.S.T.A., based in the U.K., the Tall Ships Race will celebrate
the millennium by sending a fleet of around 70 or 80 ships, ranging in size from 30 to 370
feet, on an epic journey visiting ports on both side of the Atlantic Ocean, including
Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Charleston, South Carolina.
Tall Ships 2000 - Bermuda will be handling two legs of the year long race, between
Cadiz and Bermuda and between Bermuda and Charleston, including a three day stay on the
Island between June 8 and 12.
During this stopover, as in every port, there will be a number of events,
ceremonies and activities for both the sailors themselves and the general public.
Events Coordinator Carol Wills explained that, so far, this massive task of
organisation had gone smoothly.
She also said that many of the places on board the ships had already been filled by
a number of the Island's young people.
``Recruitment has gone wonderfully. We've had almost 140 applications from
Bermudians between the ages of 15 and 25.''
``We're extremely excited about, not only the fact that thee are so many, but also
that they come from all age groups and from every section of the community.''
I.S.T.A. rules state that at least half of the berths on board each vessel must be
filled by people of the younger generation.
Ms. Wills said that distribution between the various sections of the race had been
pretty even.
``You'd expect there to be one leg of the race that was more popular than the
other. The youngsters' choices so far show this not to be the case, as we've had about the
same amount of entries for all six legs.''
The event coordinator admitted that, although she enjoyed her job and had learned a
lot since starting, ``It is a huge task to organise this event, involving a lot of
manpower and time''.
She explained that there are a total of 13 different committees working on
preparations in various areas.
They include both, about 100 volunteers and countless government personnel.
Apparently, Government is playing a large part in helping make the Tall Ships Race
a successful reality for Bermuda.
They are working with Tall Ships 2000 - Bermuda in areas as diverse as finance,
merchandising, public relations, media coordination, security and sanitation.
Ms. Wills underlined the positive impact that an event of this size could have for
the Island in terms of publicity and tourism.
She continued: ``Its a tremendous honour that Bermuda has been chosen as one of the
ports for the race.''
The international competition to be selected apparently rivals that of the Olympic
Games , with countries from all over the world having to present their cases at an annual
conference hosted by the I.S.T.A.
One time when the publicity will be taken advantage of is when a troupe of Gombeys
travels over to Spain to perform for international audiences at the beginning of the
race's second leg in Cadiz next May.
The trip will be financed by the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs.
Dancers from all over the Island took part in a festival in Dockyard last weekend
so that it could be decided who would take on the ambassadorial roles.
In the meantime the enormous task of fundraising is, apparently, ``coming along
well''.
Ms. Wills explained that they were only aiming to raise about $1.5 million.
``The balance of this will be made up in goods and manpower costs supplied by the
Government.''Return to Press Releases page
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