November 24, 2007
Her Majesty's Canadian Ship HMCS ORIOLE confirms her participation in Festival of Sail SF 2008.
» Learn more about HMCS Oriole
September 18, 2007
The US Coast Guard Eagle is confirmed for the 2008 Festival of Sail festivities!
» Learn more about the Eagle
September 7, 2007
American Sail Training Association
240 Thames St. - PO Box 1459
Newport, Rhode Island 02840 USA
Phone: +1 401.846.1775
Fax: +1 401.849.5400
E-Mail: asta @ sailtraining.org
Web: www.tallships.sailtraining.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 7, 2007
Contact: Jonathan Harley, ASTA Race Director
Email: jonathan @ sailtraining.org
Tel: 401-846-1775
www.sailtraining.org
Newport, RI: The American Sail Training Association (ASTA) is pleased to announce that the 2008 TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Pacific Coast series has expanded to include California - with the signing of a contract for a major port event in San Francisco July 23 through July 28.
The TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® series of races at sea pits barques and barkentines, brigs and brigantines, schooners, sloops, full-rigged ships, and more against each other in lively international competition - all punctuated by grand festivals in the host port cities where the races begin and end. ASTA stages the series on a different coast of the United States each summer - in the Great Lakes in 2006, and on the Atlantic Coast in 2007.
ASTA's chairman, Mike Rauworth, said "this is the perfect moment to announce our contract with San Francisco - because it happens at the same time that the Coast Guard is announcing that 'America's Tall Ship,' the US Coast Guard Barque EAGLE, will be participating in the races and port events of the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® series on the Pacific Coast next summer. Eagle has long been a stalwart for ASTA's values - an icon of what sail training is all about - and she'll be a spectacular leader of the fleet in San Francisco."
The 2008 Series will begin in Victoria, British Columbia June 25 with stops in Tacoma, Washington and Port Alberni, British Columbia before proceeding to California. The complete schedule for 2008 is outlined in the attached Press Release from the Coast Guard.
With a membership more than 250 tall ships and sail training vessels, representing more than 26 US states and 30 countries sailing around the globe, ASTA fosters youth education, leadership development and the preservation of North American maritime heritage. ASTA organizes the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE®, hosts an annual conference on sail training and tall ships, and publishes Sail Tall Ships! A Directory of Sail Training and Adventure at Sea. ASTA also raises money for scholarships, and administers at-sea grants directly supporting youth education and leadership development programs that shape young people's lives and build tomorrow's leaders. Since its founding in 1973, ASTA has pursued its mission "to encourage character building through sail training, promote sail training to the North American public, and support education under sail."
ASTA is headquartered in Newport, RI, and is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization.
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