Tall Ships Races 2025: Haar, foghorns, hospitality and a sailing spectacular
Aberdeen is in all its nautical glory as it welcomes the Tall Ships Races 2025.
The haar thickened, the foghorns blared - and a city welcomed the Tall Ships as if they were its own.
And at home these ships very much looked as they took their places around the quays of the Port of Aberdeen which, for centuries, has anchored the city’s deep seagoing past.
The sight of the quays rammed with sails, rigs, sailors and visitors over the weekend threw an echo of how the harbour would have looked over generations past.
Normally closed off to the public - unless you are catching a ferry to Orkney and Shetland - the harbour swelled with around 100,000 people on Saturday, connecting them to the core of the city once again.
More than 3,000 ships were built and launched in Aberdeen between the early 1800s and 1990s, with around a tenth of the vessels the ocean-going Clippers that raced the high seas delivering tea, wool and coal around the world.
This weekend, the world of Tall Ships returned to Aberdeen, after two previous visits in 1991 and 1997.
Around 50 vessels are berthed in Aberdeen until Tuesday as the Tall Ships Races 2025, which started at Le Havre on July 4, reaches its third destination.
Next stop is Kristiansand in Norway, with the ships due in Esbjerg in Denmark on August 6.
Spectacular vessels from Oman, Peru, Turkey and across the Continent are in dock, from restored herring luggers to the mighty Shabab Oman II that was created for the Sultan of Oman and used as a naval training vessel.
Hundreds queued for a chance to step on the ship yesterday. Among them were Mary and Alan Love, an Aberdonian who now lives in London. The couple will meet their children in Aberdeen over the weekend to add to the family’s Tall Ships memories created in 1991 and 1997.
Mr Love said: “We are trying to get on this ship as I think this might just be our moment to see it.”
The event embraces both the past and the future of sailing, with historic sail ships - often saved from destruction, preserved and returned to the water- manned by crews which must be made up of those aged between 15 and 25, according to rules set out by race organisers Sail Training International.
The charity aims to distill the values of sailing - such as teamwork and confidence - into young people, as well as bringing together different cultures and nations.
Thomasina Mallet, 18, from Yell in Shetland, was part of a crew who delivered a ship to Le Havre from Lowestoft for the first leg of the race.
She said: “It is always a great atmosphere to take part. You have fun sailing and then come into town and meet all the other crews.
Miss Mallett, 17, who has been sailing for four years, added: “It is good good to be in the middle of the sea, you are in tune with the wind and the waves and the weather and then you have got to know how the sails work to make sure you are using the wind efficiently to make sure you can actually move.
“Also meeting all the people is so good, you are literally all in the same boat. You end up becoming best friends.”
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Louis Broughton, 18, is due to sail the next leg from Aberdeen to Kristiansand, and expected the journey to take four or five days given the “tenatative winds” that are forecast.
Of the joy of sailing, he added: “You are out there doing unparalleled things in the complete vastness of the ocean with just a few people with you. It is isolation at its purest.”
Joe Farrow, is a trustee of the Excelsior, an 1921 Lowestoft fishing smack, which was rescued from Norway in the 1970s, where it had been converted to a motorboat.
Mr Farrow said: “Since we have had her we have taken 17,000 young people or disadvantaged young people to sea.
“We think of ourselves as a sail training organisation before the fact that we have responsibility for an old boat
“And what really pleases us as trustees is seeing people who maybe lack confidence or having difficulties in their lives come sailing with us , and they are introduced to an environment of trust and responsibility, while also being exposed to risk.
“Our aim is to boost their confidence, increase their skills and give them some incredible memories. The Tall Ships is a great example of that.
“We have some schoolchildren on board from Norfolk at the moment from one of our partner schools. They are doing excellent. We have had a very, very eclectic mix of backgrounds on the boat at any time.
“The sailing has been mixed, when we were passing Sussex and Norfolk the Excelsior was doing 10 knots, which was incredible. Really we would like a little more wind.”
Vanessa Mori, Deputy CEO and Commercial Director of Sail Training International , said the organisation had been “absolutely overwhelmed” by enthusiasm shown by Aberdeen for the event.
“To see the city come alive with 50 tall ships, international crews and local communities is just a delight.
“It’s a pleasure working with the team, in what is and will be an amazing event for the city over the next four days. We look forward to the next one.”
Scottish Government Minister for Business and Employment, Richard Lochhead, added: “The Tall Ships celebrate Scotland’s proud maritime history and long tradition of international exchange. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the Aberdeen Line, which built more than 100 ships from the Walter Hood Shipyard, in the very place the Tall Ships are berthed today.
“It’s incredible to see Aberdeen hosting this spectacle which draws visitors from across the world.”
And Aberdeen, in all her nautical glory, made it look like plain sailing as she welcomed the Tall Ships Races 2025.
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