| As part of its celebrations as European capital of culture, Liverpool played host to the start of the Tall Ships Race - the largest annual gathering of large sailing ships in the world. |
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Cuauhtemoc sailing past Liverpool city centre
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| The Tall Ships Race is an annual event in European waters which has run since 1956. It visits different ports each year and last visited Liverpool in 1992. |
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Mir - A training vessel of the State Maritime Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia
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| The ships were on display at their moorings in the docks over the weekend. The large Class A ships were in the Wellington Dock to the north of the city centre. |
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Christian Radich - A training ship of the Norwegian Navy built in 1937
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Dan Mlodziezy & Sorlandet
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Statsraad Lehmkuhl
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Stavros S Niarchos sailing past the Liver Building
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Norway's largest square-rigged ship with length of 98m (318ft) and 48m (156ft) high.
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Named after the Greek businessman and philantropist who provided funding for its commission in 2000, it is Britain's newest tall ship.
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Statsraad Lehmkuhl, built in 1914, is also Norway's oldest operational square-rigged sailing ship.
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Stavros S Niarchos is owned by the Tall Ships Youth Trust charity. During the tall ships race it was crewed by 20 professional plus 48 young people funded by Liverpool City Council.
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Crewmen of the Royalist in the rigging as it sails past the Royal Liver Building
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TS Royalist
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Akela
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This 97ft (29m) Brig built in 1971 is owned and operated by the Sea Cadets Corp of Great Britain
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This Class D yacht is owned by the St. Petersburg University of Water Communications
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Cisne Branco
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Owned by the Brazilian Navy, this ship easily won the prize for the largest and most ostentatious flag. It's big enough to act as a main sail for most vessels!
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Alexander von Humboldt
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Cuauhtemoc
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This distinctive vessel, after spending the first 80 years of her life as the Kiel lightship, was converted to a sailing ship in 1986 and re-named after the German scientist, naturalist and explorer.
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Built in Bilbao, Spain in 1982, Cuauhtemoc is owned by the Mexican Navy and is named after the last Aztec Emperor.
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Alexander von Humboldt
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The flagship of the Sail Training Association of Germany (STAG) whose role is to visit foreign ports as a goodwill ambassador with young trainees.
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Cuauhtemoc is not only a beautiful ship, but is also fast. It has won the Tall Ships Race on two previous occassions.
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Svanhild
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Built in 1889, Svanhild is one of the few wooden-hulled ships in the race. It was originally built with a single mast and converted in 1925. For most of its life it worked as a cargo freighter along the Norwegian coast. After retiring she undertook a circumnavigation of the world from 1985-1988 and has been extensively restored.
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Eendracht
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A Class A dutch Gaff Schooner
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Eendracht was built in 1989 and is used for the training of Dutch naval officers.
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Asgard II
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This pretty little brigantine is owned by the Irish Government but is managed as a training vessel by Coiste an Asgard, a company which is a founding member of Sail Training International.
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An amphibious car also chuntered past. It didn't look very sea-worthy and the choppy water looked in danger of overwhelming it.
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I've never seen a fireman on a jet-ski before!
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The Royal Navy were also in attendance. I like the painting on the side of this helicopter!
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A group replica Russian Yak3 World War II fighter planes gave a display of formation flying and acrobatics.
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Russian Yak3 fighter planes
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A fireboat brought up the rear of the Parade of Sail
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