Tall Ships leave Helsinki for Tallinn

About 50 large ships participating in the Tall Ships Races left Helsinki port for Tallinn on Sunday.

A total of six ports are hosting the 2024 Tall Ships Races, three of which are in Finland.

In addition to Helsinki, the five other ports are Klaipeda in Lithuania, Tallinn in Estonia, Turku in Finland, Mariehamn in Åland and Szczecin in Poland, said organiser of the races Sail Training International (STI).

The vessels are scheduled to arrive at Turku port on July 18 and stay until July 21 and arrive at Mariehamn in Åland on July 24 and stay until July 27.

Earlier on July 4 the ships arrived at Helsinki port.

The ships arrived in Helsinki from 13 different countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain and Ecuador.

The ships, ranging in size from 10 to 200 metres, are divided by size into four classes.

Depending on the size of the ship, the number of crew varies from ten to a hundred.

One of the most striking ships is the 108-metre-long Dar Mlodziezy from Poland.

The event, which is the largest free-of-charge family event in Europe, offered a varied programme for the whole family and people watched the programme via the Helsinki-kanava channel, said the City of Helsinki in a press release.

The theme of the event is the Baltic Sea and its protection.

The Tall Ships Races is an international sailing event and competition for large sailing ships that is organised annually, bringing thousands of young people together from around the world.

The event is held in the Baltic Sea every four years.

The Tall Ships Races were last seen in Helsinki in 2013.