Record of miles per watch!

3-07-2009 3:07

Smokingggggg!! Last night we set our record of miles per watch! We did 43 miles in the 00 to 04 watch!! Amazing! But everybody in this race seems to be doing very well and going very fast! Just now we tried to set the topsail again after gybing. We knew it would be tough with a lot of wind, so we used jumplines (small ropes around the sail to keep it together when you pull it up and when you pull on the sheet side of the topsail the lines come of and the sail sets itself) but the jumplines came of in a swing with a wave and so we tried to set it without the ropes.. but it was to much, so we took the sail down again. Without topsail we are still very fast and it was a nice exercise! - Crew Tecla

We caught a fresh fish!

24 June 2009 00:32

Today we finally caught a fish! Bit we threw it back in the water again. It was a Dolphin fish. And as we are almost in Charleston (;)) and where in the middle of our dinner, we thought it a waste to kill it and not eat it.. It was very big and put up a pretty good fight! Our trainee from Belgium, Gael, hauled her in and with that deserved an applause! During the day the white watch backed an apple pie which was gone within minutes! It said Tecla 1, because that is what we still where today. We keep on meeting wind calms, so we do not know what tomorrow will bring... Crew Tecla

Beautiful sunset at 21.30 BT

23 June 2009 00:15

Midsummernight was a succes. We started of with a beautiful sunset at 21:30 BT and after that told our midsummermurder stories. They where creative and fun, and a little scary. There were flying fishes that snatched away cookies that had caused wars, there where love proposals in a dinghy interrupted by a furies person from the Tecla (further names shall not be named, BooBoo) because she needed the dinghy to get to her love and she was assisted by the captain of the MV Butterfly... etc etc! After that we did some broodje aap games and then went to bed. But helaas, not everybody was able to sleep quietly as the mainsail ripped during a period of no wind and crazy waves.. So today was spend repairing the sail and we hope to pull it up later this evening. - Crew Tecla

We saw a coconut drifting today!

21 June 2009 00:11

We lost our first position to the Pride of Baltimore. It is a very exciting race, with switching places in real positions and on corrected time. So maybe we will be back in the front before long. Today we did a workshop about fire and what procedures to go through at a door and when extinguishing a small fire. Further more we did some games, mastermind was very exciting and after that some sea battles where fought. We saw a coconut drifting today, so the gulf stream can not be far away anymore! - Crew Tecla between Bermuda - Charleston

Well it is hot on board again

22 June 2009 00:59

Well it is hot again!! We have put up all sorts of wind catchers to get some fresh air in. And as long as this breeze keeps up, we will be doing fine. Last night our jib halliard broke so we had to do without jib for a few hours before it got light and we could bring up a new halliard. This was just as the wind was easing down a little and we thought we had had the worst of the expected strong winds. Today bugs landed on the Tecla, so we know we are getting closer to land. Tonight is midsummersnight! Longest day, shortest night! We are doing a theme night, first midsummersmurder storytelling and after that midsummersgames. It is to hot to sleep anyway!

The shipsdog is eating home backed dogbiscuit!

18 June 2009 00:09

Its nice out here! It is still warm, but less humid, sleeping is easier for us Europeans now!! The seasick are all better and everybody is getting into the rithme and routine on board. The compass is polished (Jessica (NL) and Stefan (NL) offered to do so as it looked horrible after the rain of the last few days!), a group of people is doing dishes out on the deck and a group is downstairs doing dishes. The dog has had her first home backed dogbiscuit!
She loved it!  - Crew Tecla

Showers, shifting winds and bananas

17 June 2009 00:47 Race Bermuda - Charleston

Strong winds prevailed during the night, a lot of showers and shifting winds to go with that. Now the wind is gone again.. we are drifting and rocking as we have done for so many days during the last race. We have just heard the Europa on the VHF saying they have wind, so we are preparing to tack and hoping that the wind will reach us soon as well. We are number one in our class and over all! That was reason for a celebration, so we had banana 'vla' again! But now we are out of vla, so we will have to make banana bread the next time we have to celebrate and get rid of the Banana's.

Crew Tecla

Start Race to USA exciting!

16 June 2009 01:55


The start was exciting! We are with so many more ships and we actuallyy had
wind, a lot! Even before we had started we had already changed sails three
times! The waves are uncomfortably short, we have some seasick, but they
take it very well! Some people of the group that brought us to Bermuda are
still on board. As their legs are already shaken in, they are doing very
well. The old crew is being missed, after 29 days you get used to peoples
ways and voices, it is strange to not have them here. But with the new crew
we have new things to talk about, new stories to exchange! New adventures
and places to explore!

Crew Tecla

Start of the Race Bermuda - Charleston exciting!

16 June 2009 01:55

The start was exciting! We are with so many more ships and we actuallyy had
wind, a lot! Even before we had started we had already changed sails three
times! The waves are uncomfortably short, we have some seasick, but they
take it very well! Some people of the group that brought us to Bermuda are
still on board. As their legs are already shaken in, they are doing very
well. The old crew is being missed, after 29 days you get used to peoples
ways and voices, it is strange to not have them here. But with the new crew
we have new things to talk about, new stories to exchange! New adventures
and places to explore!

Crew Tecla

Whale Jumped out of the water twice!

08 June 2009 21:13

Wind has turned against us and increased a little.. Our speed went down and the waves went up! We hope to reach Bermuda somewhere in the night, but are not sure if we are going to enter the harbour in the dark. Today we saw a whale! It was 200 meters away and jumped out of the water twice! This was definitely the best sighting we have had so far. As it came out of the water and landed on the water it made a real big splash and 20 seconds later it jumped again. We also saw two Bermudan Longtail's (birds). Some of the crew felt straight at home at the sight of the bird. They stayed with us for a while, swaying their long tail and gliding through the air like a welcome to Bermuda.

Crew Tecla

Tecla close to Bermuda

07 June 2009 20:56

We just hit the 200 miles mark, we are now technically in Bermuda! Or Bermudan waters at least. Spirits are high and we hope to be in Bermuda tomorrow night. Nele our German trainee is getting a lesson in English
(female) literature, she is reading Jane Eyer, and is about to see the movie Emma, after the book emma of Jane Austen. We ate Oma Macaroni, which is a specialty macaroni of my grandmothers and all together we tried to write a Tecla song for the Crew parade about all the different nationalities on board. So today was a very international day. Further more, there is not much news to report. The wind has picked up, but from the wrong direction, so we are sailing almost right into it, but it makes the sun less hot! We saw some birds, some flying fish, a boat and a rain shower past a stern of us. As is daily life on the Tecla.

Jolie Brise first place, Tecla second!

02 June 2009 21:56 Message from Tall Ship Tecla

We came in second.. it must have been very close! Harry came back at 15:15 UTC with the announcement that the results would be a little late. By that time al of us already gathered around the radio, to hear what he had to say, so we where a bit disappointed! Then at 15:45 (or something) he came back with the announcement that the results of the last vessel had just been reported and that the race director would come back to us "shortly"..

Finally at 17:00 UTC the results came back, Jolie Brise one, Tecla two..
arg!!! In the meantime nobody dared to go to the toilet, put on a bathing suit (because we where going to go swimming after the results) or even get a drink, until the results came back! We opened the Lambrousco wine to celebrate and shot the corks as far as we could, just to leave a part of us behind on the spot we had finished (as we had not moved since the finish, due to no wind!). So now the motor is turned on, we just had dinner and tomorrow is another day.. hopefully with some wind so that we don't have to motor all the way to Bermuda!

Tecla a winner!

01 June 2009 20:53
We are number one again! The rest seems to have no wind, and we at least some..! Today was cleaning day and making up our inventory regarding fresh food and cookies! We cleaned outside and just as we finished spraying the deck we saw some whales/dolphins. We could not really decide on which, it was between a pilot whale and a sort of dolphin, but in the end they both are a sort of large dolphin anyway.. They seemed to have been sunbathing as they lingered at the surface. And we talked to the Bark Europa today! Through the HF we had contact for a while. They where enjoying a steady trade wind and doing a lot of miles per day. They will try and keep in contact with us and race control, but during the coming schedule we could not reach them anymore. It was really cool to all of a sudden hear a Dutch voice and a familiarly name calling us!

Update form the TSAC

27 May 2009

Hello there!
Race positions remain unchanged from yesterday’s report with Jolie Brise (UK) maintaining the lead overall on corrected time. In second place is Tecla (Netherlands), with Kruzenshtern (Russia) in third and Spirit of Bermuda in fourth. The leading Class D on corrected time continues to be Urania (Netherlands) with Xsaar (Belgium) in second, Peter von Danzig (Germany) in third and Rona II (UK) in fourth.
On the water, Peter von Danzig remains the leader with Spirit some 75 nautical miles behind and looking to be closing the gap again. Urania is still in third and Jolie Brise in fourth. The fleet are keeping fairly close together with just 430 miles between the leader and the back markers.
All are making fairly good time in the east-south-east 7 knot winds and are on target to reach Bermuda before the beginning of the festivities on 11 June. Should this not look likely at any time, the Race Committee, who are constantly monitoring the fleet’s progress, will shorten the race to enable all to get to port in time. This is not likely to happen for some time and even if they choose to do so, as long as all the vessels are still racing their projected finish times will be taken into account and they will be eligible for a placing.
The news from Peter von Danzig today is that they are enjoying light winds with lots of sun and have just eaten a very good meal of fresh tuna, caught by their watchleader an hour before! They are watching whales passing and also enjoying deck showers, all of which is making for a fairly happy party boat at the moment.

Tecla!

24 May 2009 21:47

Update:
Today was a rest day, no workshops, no maintenance, a real sunday! During the afternoon we did however do some excersises (lead by Loes) to keep our muscles and mind busy and in shape. Hilariously jumping around on one leg and hip shakes as practice for dancing during the parties on Bermuda! The blinddate game set up by the Jolie Brise is really getting a grip on our crew. 6 crew members of ours have already been matched to crewmembers of the Jolie Brise, Xsaar, Belle Poule, Etoile and the Urania! Now we not only await the 15:15 comm schedule for the placings (we are still number 2!), but now also to know who is matched to who! Today we had a day off from the Banana's as well, tomorrow I am making Jelly as desert, with banana's!

Jet Tecla

News from the Tecla!

37'07.7 N 012'12.7 W 18:30 UTC
We are still on a roll! With some lighter winds the waves have decreased a little, and we don't mind! All that rocking and heavy steering is fun for a while, but not for to long! We have 550 miles to go to the finish and are almost on course straight for Tenerife! The weather is fine, some clouds, sun and about 18 degrees! And what everybody would like to know of course, our position in the race.. Well that is another story.. They put the Kruzenshtern in the B class (this is a very large square rigged vessel with almost 300 cadets..) and now he is first in our class and first over all..
we are second in our class and second over all.. So actually this is first place..! We will do all we can to get our first place back!

Jet
Crew onboard the Tecla

News from the TSAC!

"we hebben de sokken er goed in" is what we say in dutch, which would translate as "we have got the socks in good".. Or maybe better to say, we are on a roll!! With waves in every direction you look and a wind that has veered from NW to NNE we are currently on a number one position in our class and 2 over all in the race!! Of course it is to early to say anything about the rest of the race, but we did the 'wave' on our aft deck! We altered course this afternoon and are on a postside tack, which seems to agree better with the crew. We have some sick on board, but after a day they are getting better and better. Will let you know more when there is news to tell!

The Tecla
Underway from Vigo - Tenerife

Visa To St. Petersburg

If you are joining the Tall Ships Race leg 1 you need a visa to St. Petersburg.
Sail Training International, are at the moment trying to find a solution with the Russian Government to make it easier for participants of the Tall Ships Race to obtain a visa.
We can not tell you much more about it for now, but we will make sure you have all the information you need and on time to get a Visa.

We will keep you updated via our News Letters and News feeds on our website!

If you haven't signed in for our News letter  click here

Sailing is for everybody !

This year we have more then 10 International Exchanges, Tall Ships Races at the Baltic, Trans Atlantic Challenge.
A voyage for everybody! Ask for more information: info@seasailtraining.com

Registration has opened:Trans Atlantic Challenge

Join the Trans Atlantic Challenge 2009 and sail a leg at Tecla or Bark Europa. Ask for more information or sign in.

Tall Ships Races Baltic 2009
Several International Exchanges at Christian Radich, Jacob Meindert, Sthandart, Astrid, Gallant and Flying Dutchman. EU International Exchanges "Youth in Action" at Morgenster, Thalassa, Pogoria and Lord Nelson. Ask for more information via info@seasailtraining.com

Funchall 500 Regatta 2008, 30 september

Tecla won the Race Ilhavo - Funchal! Congratulations crew and trainees! Astrid became second in the A-klasse. Hoeray!

Tall Ships Races, 17 August

With a small part of the fleet across the finish line, and the back of the fleet still in the Middle of the North Sea the race results are not final yet. For the moment the Christian Radich is one in Class A and overall! Click for more results

Tall Ships Race, 15 August

Race 2, the fleet is out at the North Sea and scattered all over. Some of the vessels are still way before the waypoint, meanwile the%uFFFD Mir and Statsraad Lehmkuhl just%uFFFD 100 miles from the finish. %uFFFD As the wind is dropping completely the expected fast finishes will not be on hand!

Tall Ships Races, 30 July

About one third of the fleet is still racing!
The Fjords around Maloy are getting crowded meanwile with the rest of the fleet. A small taste of the Cruise in Company for trainees as they are in smaller groups enjoying paradise. Check the fleet!

Tall Ships Races, 28 July

Half the fleet of the Tall Ships Races is finshed. Their crews are enjoying the hospitality of the Norwegians as much as their beautifull Fjords! As the weather is great it is swimming time! The ones still sailing are doing their very best to take every opportunety to catch some wind as lights winds are dominant!

Tall Ships spread over Norwegian Sea, 26 July

Half the fleet has been stock in the Minch. The Fleet sis now Spread from the the Oute Hebrides till way past the Shetland Islands! Check it out

Tall Ships in the Minch, 24 July

The Fleet is in and around the Minch. In Class A the Christian Radich is one and the newcomer Morgenster 4. Well done in a fleet of 18! Alba Explorer is with her International Crew on her thirth place showing her capabilities as well.
Follow the Fleet!

The Tall Ships Races have started!

The Tall Ships Races have started!