Tall Ships Races a big success in Esbjerg

Friendship and cultural exchange: the famous Tall Ships Races are a lot more than just racing, and the event on 2-5 August featured a multitude of activities for the young sailors, from tug-of-war contests to a huge party in the local concert hall, Musikhuset – and oceans of visitor entertainment at the port.

There were more than 600,000 visitors in the four days of sunshine, a new attendance record for the Tall Ships Races in Esbjerg. The last time Esbjerg was a Tall Ships destination was in 2001, when the event drew a turnout of half a million visitors.

Big smiles everywhere

Organising an event of such proportions with visitors from all over the world required extensive planning and close coordination between the parties involved, said Villy Grøn, project manager for the Tall Ships Races in Esbjerg. Together with the rest of the Tall Ships Races secretariat, he spent the better part of a year preparing for the event.

"The biggest challenge was definitely to stay focused and stick to the plan, but I think we managed quite well. I mean, we saw nothing but big smiles everywhere," Grøn said.

"We had some big crowds for the event, and the atmosphere was just fantastic! We received a lot of compliments for the way everything was organised and many of the local people have enjoyed having the opportunity to see parts of the port they normally don't have access to."

What were your criteria for success for the Tall Ships Races at Esbjerg?

"In short: happy sailors and happy visitors. It was very important for us to stage an event that was a success for the ships and their crews while at the same time being a great experience for our people coming to the harbour area," said Grøn, listing the app that the Tall Ships Races secretariat developed specifically for the event and free Wi-Fi on the quays as two of the biggest successes.

"We could tell that especially the young Russian sailors appreciated the free Wi-Fi: they were busy downloading stuff on their phones," he said with a smile.

Great support from the companies located at the port

Sponsors supporting the Tall Ships Races in Esbjerg contributed a total of DKK 7 million to the project; the Esbjerg local council invested DKK 7 million. Although he refrained from venturing a guess as to how much the many visitors spent while in Esbjerg, there is little doubt in Grøn’s mind that the event was well worth the investments made.

"There is no doubt at all that hosting an event like this brings value to the city of Esbjerg. It promotes our city, and it’s something we can be proud of."

Grøn noted that the collaboration between the port, the local authorities and the secretariat of the Tall Ships Races exceeded all expectations:

"Everything ran very smoothly, both internally between the port, the Esbjerg local council and the Tall Ships Races and externally through the huge amount of support we received from the companies located at the port. Closing the port for several days is no simple matter, but the companies at the port were all very supportive in helping with the event."

The emergency response team was called into action when a tugboat suddenly sank while assisting the four-masted Russian sailing ship, the Kruzenshtern, out of the port on Monday evening. That situation was handled completely by the book in a collaboration between the police and the Naval Home Guard and luckily no one was hurt, Grøn explained.

Port and local authorities collaborating

The head of the Port of Esbjerg’s Maritime Department, Torben Jensen, was also very pleased with the event. Like Grøn, he is stressed the excellent collaboration he and his port office had with the Esbjerg municipal authorities and the Tall Ships Races Committee.

"Everything ran smoothly, and we didn't face any challenges we weren't able solve between us. It proves that we can make things happen here in Esbjerg, even when it comes to events of this scale," said Jensen. He agrees with Grøn that the four days were "a fantastic experience".

"I’m especially pleased with two things. Our customers played along beautifully. They were very flexible, considering their day-to-day operations were disrupted by the many tall ships and visitors. Many of the companies at the port also contributed to the festivities by opening their doors and helping to give the visitors a good experience, " he said.

"I’m also very happy that the people of Esbjerg have had the opportunity to experience the otherwise restricted-access port areas and experience parts of the port that are normally not open to them. We made the decision to open the port both from the land and sea sides so leisure boats could sail into the port and get a close look at the beautiful tall ships. That was really well received."

A worthwhile effort

As head of the Maritime Department, Jensen’s main concern was to ensure that the port would continue to operate even with so many ships in port.

"I went round to several of the ships to ask if there was anything we could do better the next time. And they all said there wasn’t. It’s just so fantastic to know that ships and their crews from all over the world had such a good experience in Esbjerg. That really means a lot. It makes all the effort we put into this worthwhile.”

The winner of this year's Tall Ships Races in Class A was a Polish brigantine, the Kapitan Glowacki, in Class B a Swedish schooner, the Vega Gamleby, in Class C an Estonian Bermuda rig, the St. Iv, and in Class D a British Bermuda rig, the Gigi. The most prestigious prize, the Trophy of Friendship, was awarded – with great acclaim from the crowd – to the crew of the Fryderyk Chopin, a Polish ship. The prize is awarded to the vessel that does the most to help further understanding and relations between the participating nations.

The prize-giving ceremony also included several special prizes, including for best communication, best use of social media and Trainee of the Year. Esbjerg-based Viking Life-Saving Equipment awarded their own prize to the crew that had done most to heighten awareness of safety on board.

The Esbjerg Tall Ships Races in numbers

• There were 56 ships from 15 different countries with more than 6,000 young sailors on board.

• A total of 600,000 people visited the port, and the event had more than 300 volunteers.

• The largest ship in the races was the Russian vessel Kruzenshtern, measuring 113 metres.

• The smallest ship was the Zryw, a Polish rig that measured just under 11 metres.

• The Tall Ships Races is organised by the British organisation STI Sail Training International, whose goal is to teach young people from all over the world to sail and to build friendships across borders.