1,000 nautical miles covered in three weeks
It’s a well-known fact that The Tall Ships Races will be in Sunderland from July 11 to July 14. But what about some of the other statistics which surround this massive event. Here are a few to consider. One the ships leave Sunderland, they will race more than 300 nautical miles to Esbjerg in Denmark.
By the end of this year’s races, the ships will have covered more than 1,000 nautical miles in three weeks.
Harlingen, a fellow Tall Ship host port for 2018, holds the record for the most sail traines ever welcomed. It stands at 337.
Another 2018 host port, Esbjerg, will be hosting the tall ships fleet for the fourth time.
At least 50% of a tall ship’s crew has to be aged between 15 and 25.
The races are expected to bring a £10million to £15million boost to Sunderland’s economy with crowds of up to 1.5 million predicted over the four days.
Pupils from 20 schools in the Wearside area will be bidding to break the record for the most children singing the same song at the same time, as they welcome the tall ships to Sunderland.
Sunderland’s Parade of Sail, one of the highlights of any leg of the races, will be on the afternoon of Saturday, July 14.
The fleet is due to begin undocking at approximately 2pm to parade between the Wear’s historic piers in the two hours before high tide at 5.15pm.
The biggest of the tall ships currently signed up to come to Sunderland is the Mir.
Mir is 350ft long and her main mast is 170ft tall.
There will be many more facts to come as the races draw near.