By YASEMIN TALAT
THE biggest fleet of tall ships in 100 years sailed into Williamstown over the weekend.
The eight tall ships, including three from the Netherlands, one from the United Kingdom and four from Australian vessels have docked in time for the Seaworks Maritime Festival.
Six of the ships will be moored at Seaworks as the star attractions of the festival.
Seaworks Foundation chairman Trevor Huggard said the Seaworks Maritime Festival would be a series of events designed to give the general public access to some of the most magnificent tall ships in the world.
“We are very fortunate to have Dutch ships Oosterschelde, Europa and Tecla, along with the British tall ship the Lord Nelson, join in with Australian vessels Windeward Bound, the Soren Larsen, the Young Endeavour and Melbourne’s own Enterprize to provide a huge event for Williamstown,” Mr Huggard said.
The three-century old Dutch ships, which were the first to arrive on Saturday morning, celebrated the half-way mark of a seafaring odyssey which has taken many months.
All three tall ships have been refurbished to carry passengers who are interested in revisiting a past era of maritime voyages.
The public can enjoy sailing the sea for five hours on the Oosterschelde, Europa or Tecla with morning tea and lunch provided for $149 per head.
An array of special events will be held throughout the week and the piers will be open daily for the viewing of the tall ships.
On Saturday 14 September the ships will say goodbye to the docks of Williamstown as they depart on a voyage to Hobart.
A Tall Ships farewell event will follow, including a fireworks display at 8.30pm.
For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.seaworks.com.au
