As the Falmouth Tall Ships Regatta’s official media partner, The Packet will be profiling some of the majestic vessels that have already signed up to take part in the event in August.

We start the series with a look at Tenacious, the largest wooden tall ship of her kind in the world.

Tenacious is owned and managed by the Jubilee Sailing Trust which was established in 1978 with the mission of enabling people of all physical abilities to have the chance to learn to sail. Its popularity rocketed and in the early 1990s, the trust found its original ship, Lord Nelson, was unable to cope with demand.

As a result, a new committee was set up with the aim of raising enough money to enable a second ship to be built. The National Lottery came up with 65 per cent of the estimated cost of the project in 1995 and work finally got underway a year later.

Over the next few years, Tenacious took shape and was officially named by the Duke of York on April 6, 2000. Her maiden voyage was made on September 1, sailing from Southampton to Southampton calling at Sark, St Helier and Weymouth.

She has covered many thousands of miles since, delivering “freedom, fun and adventure” to all those lucky enough to secure a place on board. The ship has full disabled access, with flat, wide decks and powered lifts, and is operated in as accessible a way as possible. There is a speaking compass for the use of blind crew members and bright track radar for partially sighted crew. An induction loop and vibrator alarms have also been installed for hard or hearing crew members.

Tenacious has a professional crew of eight and is aiming to welcome 44 trainees on board during this year’s Tall Ships Regatta. At the moment there are still around 18 vacancies for the voyage which will leave Southampton on August 23 and arrive in Falmouth as part of the Tall Ships Regatta on August 30. For more information visit www.jst.org.uk.

The Falmouth Tall Ships Regatta takes place between August 28 and 31 with 35 ships already confirmed as attending. For details of the event and to keep up-to-date on all that is planned visit www.falmouthtallships.co.uk.

Pic of the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s tall ship Tenacious.