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Tall Ships blog coverage
• Muskie fishing
• Restaging history on the HMS Bounty
• RIP, Harry "The Horse" Hilliard
• Bos'n sends a thank you note, and a tribute to Tall Ships
• Eagle's Bos'n has high expectations of us
• More from the blog
ARCHIVED COVERAGE
CLASS A VESSELS
All square-rigged vessels as well as vessels longer than 131 feet


USCG EAGLE
Rig: Three-masted barque
Built: 1936
Home port: New London, Conn.
Length: 266 feet
About the ship: Known as “America’s Tall Ship,” the Eagle serves as a training vessel for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, with duty on the ship a part of every cadet’s training. There’s nothing like handling 20,000 square feet of sail, 5 miles of rigging and 200 some lines to teach seamanship, leadership and teamwork. The Eagle has a colorful history, built as a training ship for the German navy and turned over at the end of World War II as a war reparation. In addition to its training role, the Eagle serves a public outreach role for the Coast Guard. The ship visited Puget Sound in 1965 and 1978 – having her in port for the Independence Day weekend is considered a coup.
More info: www.cga.edu


HMS BOUNTY
Rig: Full-rigged ship
Built: 1960
Home port: Long Island, N.Y.
Length: 180 feet
About the ship: Built by MGM Studios for the 1962 film “Mutiny on the Bounty,” the Bounty was constructed using original 18th-century ship’s drawings. The Bounty has had several film roles over the years, including in “Pirates of the Caribbean II” and the “SpongeBob SquarePants” movie. The ship has changed hands over the years and now is owned and operated by the HMS Bounty Organization. She sails primarily on the East Coast and participates in youth education and sail training.
More info: www.tallshipbounty.org


KAISEI
Rig: Brigantine
Built: 1990
Home port: Sausalito, Calif.
Length: 151 feet
About the ship: The Kaisei is operated as an education and research vessel by the California-based Ocean Voyages Institute with a mission of “teaching the maritime arts and sciences, and researching and preserving the world’s oceans.” The ship has an international flavor, with crew members from 26 countries and visits to 15 nations.
More info: www.oceanvoyages.com


NIÑA
Rig:15th-century caravel redondo
Built: 1992
Home port: Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico
Length: 68 feet
About the ship: Christopher Columbus sailed the original Niña – his favorite vessel – more than 25,000 miles. The Spanish and the Portuguese used such versatile caravels for exploration, trade and warships in the 1400s. The replica Niña was built for the nonprofit Columbus Foundation using hand tools and traditional techniques. Fittingly, the ship was featured in the film “1492.” She travels all over the world as a sailing museum.
More info: www.thenina.com


CLASS B VESSELS
Traditional-rigged vessels less than 131 feet overall length with a waterline length of at least 30 feet

ADVENTURESS
Rig: Topsail schooner
Built: 1913
Home port: Port Townsend. Jefferson County
Length: 133 feet (sparred)
About the ship: True to its name, the Adventuress has had multiple lives as a yacht, a pilot boat, a Coast Guard vessel during World War II and finally in Seattle as a youth training vessel. Today, the nonprofit Sound Experience organization operates her with an environmental education mission.
More info: www.soundexp.org


AMAZING GRACE
Rig: Two-masted schooner
Built: 1991
Home port: Gig Harbor
Length: 62 feet
About the ship: Operated by the nonprofit Maritime Foundation, which is “dedicated to training sailors and serving the local community by encouraging and refreshing leaders, volunteers, and at risk youth.” Outfitted with new swivel-guns, she’ll participate in the festival’s mock cannon battles.
More info: www.amazinggracetallship.com


HAWAIIAN CHIEFTAIN
Rig: Square-topsail ketch
Built: 1988
Home port: Aberdeen, Grays Harbor County
Length: 103 feet
About the ship: The Chieftain is a replica of a typical European merchant trader or “packet” ship of the late 18th century. Along with the Lady Washington, she’s now owned by the nonprofit Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority. The sister ships sail along the Pacific Coast.
More info: historicalseaport.org


LADY WASHINGTON
Rig: Brig
Built: 1989
Home port: Aberdeen
Length: 87 feet
About the ship: Well-known to Puget Sound-area tall ship fans, the Lady Washington is the state’s official tall ship. Built by the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority for Washington’s Centennial, the ship is a replica of the 1750s-vintage Lady Washington. The original ship had an illustrious career as an East Coast cargo ship, a Revolutionary War privateer and a trader that was the first American vessel on the West Coast and in Hawaii and Japan. Today, her crew interprets that history up and down the West Coast.
More info: historicalseaport.org


LAVENGRO
Rig: Gaff-rigged two-masted schooner
Built: 1927
Home port: Seattle
Length: 48 feet
About the ship: The Lavengro is an example of a Biloxi schooner, designed to harvest oysters and shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico. Now, she cruises the waters of Puget Sound, operated by the nonprofit Northwest Schooner Society.
More info: www.schoonerlavengro.com


LYNX
Rig: Square-topsail schooner
Built: 2001
Home port: Portsmouth, N.H.
Length: 78 feet
About the ship: A modern interpretation of an American privateer that fought in the War of 1812, the Lynx now operates as an youth education and training vessel.
More info: www.privateerlynx.com


MERRIE ELLEN
Rig: Two-masted gaff schooner
Built: 1922
Home port: Seattle
Length: 107 feet
About the ship: Originally used as a steam tugboat around Vancouver, B.C., the Merrie Ellen was converted to a schooner in 1987. A new owner has been completely renovating the Merrie Ellen in Port Townsend, and the refurbished ship will debut at Tall Ships Tacoma.
More info: www.schoonermerrieellen.com


MYCIA
Rig: Gaff-rigged schooner
Built: 1997
Home port: Sitka, Alaska
Length: 73 feet
About the ship: A hand-made wooden fishing schooner, the Mycia books sailing excursions along the Inside Passage and the San Juan Islands.
More info: www.sailmycia.com


ODYSSEY
Rig: Yawl
Built: 1938
Home port: Tacoma
Length: 83 feet
About the ship: The Odyssey began life as a luxury racing yacht around Long Island, N.Y., but was commandeered by the Navy during World War II. In 1978, the Odyssey came to the Pacific Harbors Council, Boy Scouts of America. Now, she’s the training and cruising vessel of the Tacoma Sea Scouts.
More info: www.sssodyssey.org


HMCA ORIOLE
Rig: Marconi-rigged ketch
Built: 1921
Home port: Esquimalt, B.C.
Length: 102 feet
About the ship: The oldest commissioned ship in the Canadian navy, she’s now used for training junior and noncommissioned officers about teamwork and life at sea. Look for its red-white-and-blue spinnaker with a large oriole.
More info: www.navy.forces.gc.ca/oriole


ZODIAC
Rig: Two-masted gaff schooner
Built: 1924
Home port: Seattle
Length: 127 feet
About the ship: Built for the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Co., the Zodiac raced the Atlantic in her early years and later served bar pilots in San Francisco Bay. She now sails educational and training excursions around Puget Sound and the San Juan and Gulf islands.
More info: www.schoonerzodiac.com


CLASS C VESSELS
Modern-rigged vessels less than 131 feet overall and with a waterline length of at least 30 feet, not carrying spinnakerlike sails


BOUNTY OF KRISTER
23-foot Royal Navy longboat, Vashon Island. A replica of the boat on which Capt. Bligh was set adrift in “Mutiny on the Bounty.”

CUTTY SARK
52-foot Mayflower-class ship, Coupeville, Island County

KIA ORA
60-foot, two-masted gaff schooner, Oak Harbor, Island County

MALLORY TODD
65-foot two-masted schooner, Seattle

NORTH STAR OF HERSCHEL ISLAND
78-foot full-rigged ship, Victoria, B.C.

RED JACKET
72-foot staysail schooner, Tacoma

REJOICE
48-foot, two-masted staysail schooner, La Conner, Skagit County

RESOLUTE
44-foot yawl, Olympia

SIDNEY E. WAITE
52-foot topsail schooner, Tacoma

YANKEE CLIPPER
44-foot gaff rig, Seattle

OTHER SHIPS
U.S. Army Reserve boats: Barge, landing craft, tugboat


• COAST GUARD 83257: 83-foot vintage Coast Guard cutter, Puget Sound

• CHARLES N. CURTIS: 78-foot former Coast Guard cutter, Tacoma Sea Scouts

• VIRGINIA V: 125-foot vintage steamship, Seattle

Compiled by John Henrikson, The News Tribune
Sources: American Sail Training Association directory, Tall Ships Tacoma, Web sites of individual ships