BT Cornwall has been announced as the principal sponsor for the Falmouth Tall Ships Regatta taking place in Falmouth next year.

The Falmouth to Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Regatta 2014 starts in Falmouth, with up to 30 training vessels and tall ships from around the world gathering for four days of festivities, before taking part in four days of competitive racing and heading to the finish port, Royal Greenwich.

Falmouth last hosted the ships during the Funchal 500 Tall Ships Regatta in 2008. The event attracted over 100,000 visitors; £12million of direct expenditure was generated for the local economy, around £6million of which was identified as additional expenditure; and attendance of over 50 media representatives resulted in extensive worldwide media coverage and excellent exposure opportunities for Cornwall and partners of the event.

In 2014, more than 100,000 are expected to visit the large square-rigged tall ships that will be open to public from Thursday, August 28 to Saturday, August 30, and a further 100,000 will view the parade of sail and race start on Sunday, August 31. BT Cornwall is the most recent organisation to support the tall ships.

It is a ten-year partnership between Cornwall Council, Peninsula Community Health, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and BT to improve public services, create savings and jobs, and enable people in Cornwall to better monitor their own health and care through new Telehealth and Telecare services.

Bridget Taylor, pictured, chief executive of BT Cornwall, said: “BT Cornwall’s sponsorship of this exciting and prestigious event is another example of our great commitment to the county. We are very pleased to support a worthy cause, which provides such a wonderful opportunity for Cornwall to promote itself worldwide.

Falmouth Packet:

“BT’s considerable involvement in Cornwall is well known. It is one of the county’s largest private sector employers and is investing up to £78.5 million in the Superfast Cornwall partnership with the EU and Cornwall Council, which is setting the standard for rural areas across Europe. The partnership has already made high-speed fibre optic broadband available to about three quarters of Cornish homes and businesses and expects to reach 95 per cent of premises by the end of next year. It is showing what can be achieved when the public and private sectors work together.”

John Hick, Falmouth chairman of the regatta said “It is wonderful news that a company so intimately linked with Cornwall is joining us in this prestigious event as principal sponsor. We welcome BT Cornwall on board and look forward to charting a successful race for 2014 together”.

*For the latest information about the Regatta in Falmouth see www.falmouthtallships.co.uk, join us on Facebook ‘Tall Ships Falmouth 2014’ or Twitter @tallships_2014 #tallships.