Tall Ships America is the hub for tall ships activity, information, and expertise in North America, and is commended by the United States Congress as the national sail training organization representing the United States.  As a national membership organization, Tall Ships America supports the people, ships and programs of sail training and tall ships through professional development grants, sail training scholarships, conferences, education, publications, regulatory and licensing information, public events and advocacy. 

Tall Ships America organizes the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® annual series of tall ship races and maritime port festivals to celebrate our rich maritime heritage and traditions and to inform the general public about the transformative power of adventure and education under sail®.

In 2019, the tall ship races are officially sponsored by Erie Insurance. Based in Erie, Pennsylvania, Erie Insurance is a FORTUNE 500 company offering auto, home, business and life insurance through a network of more than 12,000 local independent ERIE agents.

Track the 2019 fleet!

Redpath Waterfront Festival / Toronto / June 29-July 1
Basil Port of Call: Buffalo / July 4-7
2019 Cleveland Tall Ships® Festival / July 11-14
Tall Ship Celebration: Bay City / July 18-21
Nicolet Bank Tall Ships / Green Bay / July 26-29
Kenosha Tall Ships® 2019 / August 1-4
Sarnia-Lambton Tall Ships® Celebration 2019 / August 9-11
Tall Ships® Midland / August 9-11
Tall Ships® Kingsville / August 16-18
Tall Ships® Erie / August 22-25
Tall Ships® Brockville / August 30 - September 1

The sailing ship logo, Tall Ships®, Tall Ships America®,Tall Ships Are Coming!®, Adventure and Education Under Sail® and TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE®, are registered trademarks of Tall Ships America.

Background

Bay City is a host port for the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE®, a series of races and rallies organized by Tall Ships America. In 2019, Bay City celebrates eighteen years of award-winning maritime festivals having hosted the fleet every time it has visited the Great Lakes in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2013 and 2016. Bay City has been awarded the coveted “Port of the Year” four times by Tall Ships America - more than any other host port in all of North America.

Welcome to Tall Ship Celebration: Bay City, the best tall ship festival in North America!

Sponsors

A limited number of sponsorship opportunities remain for Tall Ship Celebration 2019. Please contact us at info@tallshipcelebration.com or (989) 895-5193 for more information.

PRESENTING

Since its founding, more than a century ago, when six independent sugarbeet companies merged, Michigan Sugar Company has perfected the process of turning one of the region’s largest cash crops – sugarbeets – into pure, all-natural sugar.

Headquartered in Bay City, Michigan Sugar Company is a grower-owned cooperative with sugarbeet processing facilities in Bay City, Caro, Croswell and Sebewaing. The company’s nearly 1,000 farm families plant and harvest about 160,000 acres of sugarbeets each year in 21 Michigan counties, as well as Ontario, Canada. Each year, those beets are sliced and turned into about 1.2 billion pounds of sugar that is sold under the Pioneer and Big Chief brands.

Today, Michigan Sugar Company is the third largest beet sugar processor in the United States and has 850 year-round employees and an additional 1,300 seasonal and campaign workers. The company is the No. 1 employer in Huron County, No. 2 in Bay and Sanilac counties and No. 3 in Tuscola County. The company has an annual payroll of about $65 million and an annual local economic impact of about $520 million.

Michigan Sugar Company is a first-time presenting sponsor of Tall Ship Celebration in 2019.

Additional Activity Sponsors

The schooner Appledore IV is owned and operated by BaySail, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Bay City, Michigan. Tall ship adventures aboard Appledore IV further BaySail’s mission to “foster environmental stewardship of the Saginaw Bay watershed and the Great Lakes ecosystem and to provide personal development opportunities for learners of all ages through shipboard and land-based educational experiences.” Since its founding in 1998, more than 48,000 young people have experienced a BaySail education program.

APPLEDORE V

Vessel Type: Gaff Schooner
Flag: USA
Homeport: Bay City, MI
Sparred length: 65’
Draft: 8’
Beam: 14’
Rig Height: 63’ 6”
Sail Area: 1,444 square feet
Power: 90 HP Diesel
Hull: Steel

The schooner Appledore V is owned and operated by BaySail, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Bay City, Michigan. Appledore V was the fifth in a series of Appledore schooners commissioned by Herb and Doris Smith and launched in 1992. Traverse Tall Ship Company purchased Appledore V from the Smiths and sailed her under the name Westwind. BaySail acquired the ship in 2002 and changed her name back to Appledore V. She joins sister ship Appledore IV as an education and sail training vessel operating around the Great Lakes.

Bluenose II is an international sailing ambassador and is home ported in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The vessel’s main purpose is to promote tourism for Nova Scotia and make the ship available for short day cruises. The mission is to promote the history and legacy of Bluenose & Bluenose II and to teach and promote seamanship and life skills in young Canadians.

Bluenose II is a replica of the original Bluenose, which was built in 1921 in Lunenburg. Under Captain Angus Walters, she became famous as winner of the International Fishermen’s Series of schooner races from that date until her last race in 1938. Bluenose was featured on a Canadian postage stamp in 1928 and on the Canadian dime in 1937, where she can still be seen today. The original Bluenose was lost in 1946 on a reef near Haiti.

Bluenose II, built in 1963, is owned by the Province of Nova Scotia. Bluenose II is operated and maintained by the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society, which also operates the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

Over 900 volunteers completed Discovery World's tall ship, the Sailing Vessel Denis Sullivan. This replica of a Great Lakes schooner, and Flagship of Wisconsin, operates as a floating classroom and goodwill ambassador for the State of Wisconsin. From her homeport in Milwaukee on Lake Michigan, the S/V Denis Sullivan offers educational day sails and private charters for people of all ages from May through September and is committed to re-establishing the historical, cultural and environmental bonds between the community and one of its most valuable resources.

The Maritime Heritage Alliance’s schooner Madeline is a reconstruction of a mid-19th century Great Lakes schooner and one of the State of Michigan's official tall ships. She was built between 1985 and 1990 in Traverse City, Michigan by volunteer members of the Maritime Heritage Alliance.

Her mission is to serve as a floating center for the interpretation of Great Lakes maritime history. She is open to visitors in her home port of Traverse City and travels to other Great Lakes ports under local sponsorship. Madeline's financial support comes entirely from people who are interested in preserving Great Lakes history. This includes MHA members and others around the Great Lakes who believe in the Alliance’s mission.

The Flagship Niagara is one of the most historically authentic tall ships in the United States. As an accurate reproduction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s victorious flagship from the War of 1812’s Battle of Lake Erie, the ship represents both Pennsylvania and her homeport of Erie in ports throughout the Great Lakes.

The ship currently offers three distinctive educational programs to the public. These include educational day sails, an individual trainee program, and for-credit high school and college programs. The day sail program allows the public to sail for an afternoon or evening and experience the life of a sailor. The individual training program integrates trainees into the regular crew for two to three weeks.

Finally, the Flagship Niagara’s institutional partnerships with schools have linked the vessel to some of the most prestigious educational institutions in the country. Students receive full credit for being onboard and are taught by accredited faculty from their respective institution. All students and trainees can expect a highly authentic onboard living experience, including sleeping in hammocks, and meals cooked off of a woodstove.

The schooner Perception, operated by Michigan Challenge Traditional Sail Training, is a 68-foot steel-hulled schooner built in New Zealand in 1985 from plans designed by the famous naval architect L. Francis Herreshoff in 1924. She is gaff-rigged, and her Sitka spruce masts stand 70 feet tall. She is fitted with teak woodwork throughout. The previous owner, a prominent east coast architect, sailed her from New Zealand to Australia, Brazil, the Galapagos, the Caribbean, and Portugal.

In 2017 Michigan Challenge Traditional Sail Training purchased her to fulfill their mission of teaching traditional sailing methods to Gold Star Teens (children of fallen military heroes), children of deployed, wounded, or ill veterans, grieving youth, and veterans and their families. They intend to provide a memorable and life-changing experience to their clients absolutely tuition-free.

From experience, the leaders of Michigan Challenge Traditional Sail Training know that learning a new skill, being in the company of friends who understand and have had similar experiences, and being with nature on a quiet sailboat on a breezy summer day can have a tremendous effect on one’s state of mind and outlook on life. Being on a classic tall ship can transcend time and widen a young person’s world of experience.

The 284-ton Barque Picton Castle is a traditionally rigged and operated sail training ship based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, but is probably best known for her voyages around the world. Over the past 15 years, the ship has made five voyages around the world, one around the Atlantic Ocean, two trips to the Great Lakes and countless other jaunts up and down the coasts of the U.S. and Canada. Along the way she’s introduced more than 1,000 people to the rewards of square-rigged sailing.

In 2006, Tall Ships America awarded Picton Castle the Sail Training Program of the Year. In 2011, Capt. Daniel Moreland, was named Sail Trainer of the Year by Sail Training International. In October 2012, Picton Castle cast off on an 8-month exploration of the Pacific Ocean. Ports of call included Grenada and Portobelo, Panama on the Atlantic Ocean, then after transiting the famous Panama Canal it was on to the Galapagos, Pitcairn Island, Mangareva, Tahiti, Bora Bora, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga.

As a training ship, all on board work, stand watch, and learn the ways of a square-rigged sailing ship. Workshops are conducted in wire and rope rigging, sail making, boat handling, navigation, and practical seamanship. The ship also delivers much-needed educational materials and other supplies to the remote islands she visits.

Pride of Baltimore II is a topsail schooner built to the lines of an 1812-era Baltimore Clipper. She is Maryland’s working symbol of the great natural resources and spectacular beauty of the Chesapeake Bay region and a reminder of America’s rich maritime heritage. Pride of Baltimore II’s mission is to educate the public on Maryland’s maritime history, tradition and commerce opportunities.

Pride of Baltimore II is available for charter and for dockside and sailing receptions in each of her destinations as well as public day sails. She can accommodate up to six paying passengers as “working guest crew” between ports of call. Pride of Baltimore II maintains an international sailing schedule. She sails with two rotating professional captains and a crew of eleven.

The Nao Santa Maria is a replica of a 15th century square sail ship, built to celebrate Huelva’s 525th anniversary. This project embodies the goal of retracing history in an effort to promote the combination of heritage, tourism, and regional culture utilizing a vessel that was once the vehicle of these encounters between worlds centuries ago. The Nao Santa Maria serves as a traveling ambassador for the province of Huelva to all the Spanish, European, and American ports the ship visits.

Nao Santa Maria’s sister ship, the 16th century replica El Galeón Andalucía, visited Bay City in July 2016 and welcomed thousands of visitors aboard.

The S.T.V. St. Lawrence II, owned and operated by Brigantine Incorporated, is a custom built sailing ship that serves as a platform for immersive outdoor adventure programs. The ship was built by Kingston shipyards in 1953 to a design by Francis MacLachlan and Mike Eames.

Brigantine Incorporated is dedicated to empowering, connecting, and inspiring youth through the challenges of sailing a traditionally rigged ship. Through experiential learning and skills development they build confidence, strength, and leadership in the ship's crew, while broadening horizons and inspiring them to be a positive force in the world.

Brigantine Incorporated is also committed to preserving rare maritime skills and heritage, promoting respect for the natural environment, and providing the training and experience required to become an outstanding professional mariner.

1. Fore mast
2. Main mast
3. Mizzen mast 
4. Flying jib   
5. Outer jib
6. Inner jib
7. Fore topmast staysail
8. Fore course
9. Fore lower topsail
10. Fore upper topsail
11. Fore lower topgallant sail
12. Fore upper topgallant sail   

 

13. Fore royal
14. Main royal staysail
15. Main topgallant staysail
16. Main topmast staysail
17. Main course
18. Main lower topsail
19. Main upper topsail
20. Main lowr topgallant sail
21. Main upper topgallant sail
22. Main royal   
23. Mizzen royal staysail
24. Mizzen topgallant staysail

25. Mizzen topmast staysail
26. Main spencer
27. Crossjack, mizzen course
28. Mizzen lower topsail
29. Mizzen upper topsail
30. Mizzen lower topgallant sail
31. Mizzen upper topgallant
32. Mizzen royal
33. Spanker

Note that “Mizzen” is a more modern spelling of “Mizen” and that “sail” is frequently abbreviated to “s’l” as in “tops’l” and “stays’l”

Where can I see the ships come in and/or under sail?

The ships will arrive in downtown Bay City on Thursday, July 18 from 1:30-4:00 p.m. (approximately). Guests can purchase a Daily Admission Ticket to enter the parks at noon and watch the ships parade in. The parks will close to the public at 5:00 p.m.

As they arrive downtown, the ships will not be under sail. Unfortunately, there is not a place to see the ships under sail from shore.

What do I need to purchase to access the festival?
Guests are required to pay a daily admission fee to enter the parks for each day you wish to attend. This provides access to all standard festival activities and services. Required for each day you wish to attend the festival.

To board and tour the visiting tall ships, guests must also purchase a Souvenir Passport. Passports are issued to each guest and are not transferable. They are valid Friday - Sunday and allow the bearer to board and tour each visiting tall ship one time. Souvenir Passports are not valid for admission to the festival. Guests much also purchase a daily admission ticket for each day they wish to attend.

Are there ID requirements or an age limit to enter the festival?
All festival attendees are required to purchase a daily admission ticket for each day you wish to attend the festival. Children 36” and under are admitted free of charge and must be accompanied by a paying adult.

APPLEDORE SAIL-AWAY PASSENGERS: An admission ticket is included with your purchase and will be issued - via email - prior to July 18.

BAY CITY BOAT LINES PASSENGERS: You are required to purchase a daily admission ticket either online or at the gate.

There is no age limit to enter the festival or sail aboard Appledore IV or V. However, children 6 years old and under are required by Michigan law to wear a lifejacket at all times while aboard the vessel. We strongly advise that you bring your own lifejacket. BaySail and Tall Ship Celebration will not be responsible for providing them to sail-away passengers.

What are my transportation/parking options getting to the event?
FREE PARKING is available for festival attendees at General Motors Powertrain (1001 Woodside Ave). This is the best location for our handicap guests to park. A FREE shuttle service is provided to/from the GM Powertrain parking area to the main festival gate at Wenonah Park on Water Street. 

There will be an additional shuttle route taking guests from Wenonah Park (East side) to Veterans Memorial Park (West side) and vice versa. 

Shuttle service is provided by Bay Metro. Schedule TBD and will be posted soon. 

If you are participating in a sail-away excursion, please remember to allow yourself plenty of time to park and navigate the festival grounds. We recommend arriving 45 mins - 1 hour prior to your scheduled departure time. Ships depart on-time and tickets are not refundable.

What can/can't I bring to the event?
We strongly recommend dressing for the weather. The festival grounds are exposed to the elements and have limited areas of shade/cover from the sun. Sunscreen is essential and should be applied multiple times during your time in the sun. In case of emergency, dial 9-1-1 immediately and give your location within the festival.

Absolutely no weapons, coolers, alcohol or illegal substances are allowed within the festival grounds. The no weapons policy extends to guests with a CPL license. All backpacks, purses and bags will be searched by festival security at admission gates. No pets of any kind are allowed inside the festival grounds, with the exception of service animals as permitted by law.

Can I camp at the festival?

Yes! A limited number of trailer/motorhome spaces is available in Veterans Memorial Park south of the bridge. These “dry camping” spots do not include water or electricity and are not available for tents. There are 20 riverfront sites at $40 per night and 40 additional sites for $30 per night. Register for your campsite online here. Camping at Tall Ship Celebration is managed by Bay City Northeast Little League.

What are my other lodging options during my time in Bay City?

Three hotels are located within walking distance of the festival: DoubleTree by Hilton, Comfort Inn, and Courtyard by Marriott. The Courtyard by Marriott at Uptown is Tall Ship Celebration’s headquarters hotel in 2019. More information about local lodging options can be found at www.gogreat.com or by calling the Great Lakes Bay Region Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800.444.9979. 

What is your refund policy?
All sales are final. Daily admission tickets, souvenir passports, and sail-away tickets are not refundable.

Where can I contact the organizer with any questions?
For information about Tall Ship Celebration, contact us at (989) 895-5193 or info@tallshipcelebration.com.