Entries for the Magellan-Elcano Tallships Race from Falmouth next year are coming in – with Poland well represented so far with three vessels booked in for the Falmouth to La Corunna first leg of the race.
From La Corunna the next leg is to Lisbon and the final leg from Lisbon to Cadiz.
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The race, which should have been held last year, was to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the circumnavigation of the globe by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and Basque explorer Juan Sebastian Elcano.
On August 10, 1519, five ships sailed from Seville on voyage that took three years to complete with Elcano finally sailing his vessel back into Seville on September 6 1522.
Magellan was killed in the Philippines by fierce natives in a skirmish and later 30 of his crew were ambushed and murdered at a feast. Elcano took command of the ship Victoria eventually bringing it back to Spain.
First seen in Falmouth for the 1982 Race is the Polish tallship Dar Mlodziezy, owned by the Gdynia Maritime Academy since she was built.
Her name means “the gift of youth” and she replaced the beautiful sailing ship Dar Pormoza, which had trained future officers of merchant and fishing fleets for over fifty years.
Dar Mlodziezy has four sisterships Druzhba, Khersones, Pallada, Nadesha and Mir, a frequent caller at Falmouth.
Dar Mlodziezy alongside Duchy wharf in 2014 Picture: DB Collection
The second Polish ship to enter, the Fryderyk Chopin, named after the 19th century Polish composer, is the youngest of the Polish tall ships and well known in this port.
The two masted Brig was dismasted off the Isles of Scilly in 2010. Towed into Falmouth she remained here for several months where she was eventually re-rigged at the docks.
Since then the ship has returned here at least twice a year. The Bermudan ketch Wielelkopolska makes up the trio of Polish vessels.
An interesting vessel often seen in European waters is the Vanuatan registered two masted schooner Atyla built in Spain 30 years ago to circumnavigate the globe following the Magellan-Elcano route but the project foundered.
The vessel was the brainchild of Esteban Vicente who had a French bulldog called Atyla. When his dog died he named the sailing ship after the dog.
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