Image 55 for 'The Tall Ships leave Liverpool' gallery
AS THE Tall Ships continue their voyage across the Irish Sea organisers have thanked Liverpool for a fantastic send-off.
Sail Training International, who coordinated the Tall Ships visit to the city said the festival had gone “seamlessly”.
Praising organisers for the smooth running of the five-day visit, the charity’s media man-ager Corinne Hitching said she hoped Liverpool would bid to host the Tall Ships Race again.
“The stay in Liverpool was brilliant, it was absolutely fantastic the number of people who came to see the ships.
“The million spectators prove how popular the ships were and the spectators lined down both sides of the Mersey for the parade of sail.
“Everything I’ve heard from the ships and the crew has been positive, it was only the wind that proved a challenge at times. It was very difficult during the parade of sail with the wind and that was the only negative.
“Organising the huge crowds could have been a problem and we were split between two sites. But the organisation of the shuttle buses and crowd management was great, as were the reports I’ve heard about the crew party in the Echo Arena.
“The Tall Ships Races operate on a rotation system over four years and we vary the ports and the countries.
“The success of this year will put Liverpool in a good position to apply again to host the race which could be in five or six years.”
The praise comes a day after the Albert Dock declared it’s busiest ever trading weekend to date – thanks to the Tall Ships.
Hotels were full over the five day extravaganza and culture bosses estimate media coverage of the event has exposed Liverpool to 10 million people.
As the event becomes part of Liverpool’s history, the ships are still battling out on the high seas and will line up to start the race off the coast of Ireland at 3pm today.
The 70-strong fleet will gather five miles off Loch Foyle and pass between the HMS Lyme Bay and HMS Argyle which will form a 1.5 mile starting line.
The 11-day race will end in Norway and the ships’ progress can be followed online at www.sailtraininginternational.org
