- published: 21 May 2014
- views: 26409
A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall Ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a race or festival.
Traditional rigging may include square rigs and gaff rigs, with separate topmasts and topsails. It is generally more complex than modern rigging, which utilizes newer materials such as aluminum and steel to construct taller, lightweight masts with fewer, more versatile sails. Most smaller, modern vessels use the Bermuda rig. Though it did not become popular elsewhere until the twentieth century, this rig was developed in Bermuda in the seventeenth century, and had historically been used on its small ships, the Bermuda sloops.
The term tall ship came into widespread use in the mid-20th century with the advent of the Tall Ships' Races, and was not generally used in the era when such ships were the norm. The term's popularity may have stemmed from its use in a well-known nautical poem by English Poet Laureate John Masefield entitled "Sea-Fever", first published in 1902.
On the nearest far horizon
Proud and free, the tall ships travel
You can see their silhouette
Against a pirate's moon
Their fate depends on the hand of God
To guide them deep inside them
They pitch their sails into the gales
And stand, wheel in hand
Till their compass finds dry land
Baby we're all tall ships
Braving the raging sea
Trying to find some calm beyond the storm
And live strong and free
If we can challenge the waves on the ocean
And harness the tides of emotion
It's not so hard to ride life's stormy sea
Sail on and on and on and on
Sail on and on with me
You tell me that the winds of change
Have thrown you off your course of travel
You wonder if you're strong enough
To stand the rising tide
Your fate depends on the moves you make
When your direction needs correction
So hold it steady, it's not too late
Find your way, make that change
Sail into the light of day
Baby we're all tall ships
Our banner is rising high
Catching the northern wind and storming
Into the crimson sky
If we can challenge the waves on the ocean
And harness the tides of emotion
It's not so hard to ride life's stormy sea
Sail on and on and on and on
Sail on and on with me
Sky writing, exciting and frigtening
Riding the lightning into the shore
Feeling, pitching and reeling
Dreams have no ceiling, love is forevermore
Baby we're all tall ships
Braving the raging sea
Trying to find some calm beyond the storm
And live strong and free
If we can challenge the waves on the ocean
And harness the tides of emotion
It's not so hard to ride life's stormy sea
Sail on and on and on and on
Sail on and on with me
Sail on and on and on and on
Sail on and on with me
Sail on and on and on and on
Sail on and on with me