A crew member works high in the rigging of the replica frigate Rose. In this world of rope and canvas, sailorly skills are kept alive.
Sail Training: The Next Century by Captain David V. V. Wood
I
n late July of 1972, the US Coast Guard's training bark Eagle set sail from her home port of New London, Connecticut on an extraordinary voyage. In what amounted to a Presidential command performance, she was to participate in a Tall Ships Race from the Solent, on England's south coast, to the Skaw between Denmark and Sweden, and then visit Kiel, Germany for the sailing events of the 1972 Olympic Games-her first return to Germany since being taken over by the Coast Guard at Bremerhaven in 1946, in the aftermath of
20
World War II. There were a numberofother "firsts" for Eagle on this voyage, but they belong to another story. What stood out for me-and, I believe, for Eagle's entire complement of officers, crew, and cadets-were the excitement and adventure of participating in an historic international event, the thrill of pitting our developing skills as square-rigger sailors against those of the other magnificent, cadet-crewed vessels in the race (Germany's Gorch Fockll and Poland's Dar Pomorza), and the opportunity to mingle ashore with fellow seamen from the 15 nations and SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994