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Running Free September 2025
From the Bridge
Happy Fall to you all! As the leaves begin to change and the sailing season starts to wind down in many regions, we're excited to share some important updates and upcoming opportunities for our community.
We're pleased to announce that our 2026 Conference will be held at the Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, California on February 8 -11, 2026. This exciting venue provides some new opportunities for attendees, including the ability to get on the water during the conference! Much like our successful 2025 conference, lunch and dinner will be included in the cost of registration, helping us keep overall costs down for our members. We believe this approach creates more opportunities for networking and community building while providing excellent value.
Information about our keynote speaker and other special activities will be announced shortly. We're working hard to put together a program that will inspire, educate, and bring our community together. We look forward to seeing you all there!
Our first Community Muster is approaching fast – less than a month away in Erie! As with all our Musters, we'll be providing professional development opportunities in advance of the event. These sessions are designed to enhance your skills and knowledge while connecting you with fellow tall ship enthusiasts and professionals.
We hope you'll be able to join us for one of these valuable events. Community Musters are an excellent way to engage with our network on a more regional level and dive deep into topics that matter most to our community.
In the coming weeks, please keep an eye out for a survey from us. We want to know more about how we can better serve you as a member of Tall Ships America and support our community as a whole. Your feedback is invaluable in helping us shape our programs, services, and initiatives to meet your evolving needs. Whether you're a seasoned captain, a deck hand, an educator using sail training, or someone passionate about maritime heritage, we want to hear from you. Your insights help us chart the course for Tall Ships America's future.
Fair winds, Stu
Join us in California in 2026!
We could not be more excited to return to the Pacific Coast. Our last conference in California was in San Pedro in 2019 and before that, San Diego in 2015. It's been too long!
We have a cool, new-to-us venue that we are looking forward to sharing with our members. The Elite Athlete Training Center is where Olympic and Paralympic athletes from all over the world come to train. It is so neat!
The conference committee is already hard at work crafting a program that will take advantage of the campus and that sweet California weather.
At this time, our Welcome Reception will be on Sunday, February 8th, with Monday being the Ship and Shore Forum Day. Tuesday and Wednesday are the conference proper.
Registration will open on September 15th.
Who Inspired You This Year?
Did you have a moment of shocking clarity while participating in a sail training program or watching an amazing sail trainer impart their knowledge onto the next generation? Did you resolve at that moment that this person/program/ship deserves to be recognized in front of our tall ship community? This is your opportunity. Send in that nomination!
Each year at the Annual Conference on Sail Training and Tall Ships, Tall Ships America honors a select group of sail trainers and supporters for their outstanding contributions to the world of sail training.
Candidates are nominated by the membership and the final winners are selected by the Awards Committee.
All members in good standing are eligible to nominate candidates for the 2025 Sail Training Awards. Nominees must be current members of Tall Ships America.
Registration is Open for Our Fall Community Musters
Open to both members and non-members of Tall Ships America.
This fall, join us for two days of educational content, presentations, and group discussions in five different locations!
Day one of each meeting will feature an educational session and day two will be more of the traditional muster with open discussion amongst our community members.
It was a fitting end to a beautiful summer on the Great Lakes. All the crew gathered at midnight at Tall Ships® Erie to wave good-bye to the crew of the St. Lawrence II as they got underway to make their next port of call. The young crew had been with the fleet for the entire summer and, as we shouted our "fair winds!", it truly meant another TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® series in the Great Lakes had come to an end.
A HUGE thank you to all of our Official Host Ports for their incredibly hard work in pulling off their events. We truly can't do it without all of you:
Brockville Tall Ships® Festival; Toronto Waterfront Festival, presented by Redpath; Festival of Sail Duluth; Sail Detroit; Tall Ships® Midland; and Tall Ships® Erie.
Thank you to our Official Outports:
Port Washington, WI; Sturgeon Bay, WI; and Alpena, MI.
Thank you to our all of our participating vessels - we had a blast sailing with you this summer!
Alliance, Abbey Road, Appledore IV, Schooner Charley, Circe of Toronto, Eco-Maris, Empire Sandy, Ernestina-Morrissey, Fair Jeanne, Inland Seas, Liberty Clipper, Lettie G. Howard, Playfair, Pride of Baltimore II, St. Lawrence II, When and If, and Zeeto.
Finally, thanks to YOU for coming out and supporting our tall ships at these events!
See you back in the Great Lakes in 2028!
Follow along on Instagram and on Facebook for photos and video @tallshipsamerica.
📷 Crew of Playfair at Brockville Tall Ships® Festival
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