5 tall ships coming to Sail Portsmouth 2023: What to know about tickets, parking, more

PORTSMOUTH — Sail Portsmouth will celebrate the region’s maritime history and the city’s 400th anniversary with its annual tall ship festival July 27-31.

This year’s Sail Portsmouth festival will feature five tall ships, beginning with the Parade of Sail and Flotilla 400 on the evening of Thursday, July 27. The tall ships participating this year are the three-masted nao Trinidad, the two-masted schooner Ernestina-Morrissey, the three-masted schooner Denis Sullivan, the topsail schooner Lynx and the schooner Bowdoin.

Parade of Sail will kick off Sail Portsmouth festival

At 6:15 p.m. Thursday, July 27, the tall ships joined by the Gundalow Piscataqua, Portsmouth’s own tall ship, will begin the parade into Portsmouth Harbor from the mouth of the Piscataqua River. They will be accompanied by a flotilla of vessels, both civilian and commercial fishing boats plus military and municipal craft. The Parade of Sail and Flotilla will end at the Memorial Bridge, where the tall ships will turn around and head to their mooring sites. Two will berth at the Portsmouth Commercial Fishing Pier, which will be the festival’s headquarters for the weekend, across from Prescott Park. All boaters are invited to join in the Parade of Sail.

Gov. Chris Sununu will be the grand marshal of this year’s Parade of Sail and Flotilla.

New this year, private pleasure and commercial fishing vessels which participate in the Parade of Sail and Flotilla 400 are eligible to win a $1,000 gift certificate from Hamilton Marine. The Propeller Club of Portsmouth is distributing 500 cold drink koozies that contain a ticket to enter the Hamilton Marine raffle and U.S. Coast Guard boater safety information to local boaters. Distribution locations include Hamilton Marine, Brewster’s Bait and Tackle, Pierce Island Boat Launch, Portsmouth Marina (Sagamore Creek), Wentworth Marina, Rye Harbor, Portsmouth Yacht Club, Kittery Point Yacht Club, Safe Harbor Kittery Point Yacht Yard, Great Bay Marine, Great Cover Boat Club, Freedom Boat Club, Badger Island Marina and Piscataqua Marina (Badger’s Island).

Boaters have until Aug. 10 to turn in their raffle tickets at Hamilton Marine at 56 U.S. 1 Bypass in Kittery where the winning entry will be drawn.

Brewster’s Bait and Tackle is also providing 15,000 feet of colorful plastic flag garland for local boaters to decorate their boats with for the Parade of Sail and Flotilla 400. Boaters can pick up the garland at the bait shop at 121 Mechanic St., Portsmouth; at the Pierce Island Boat Ramp, at Esther’s Marina and other local marinas. After the parade, boaters can drop the garlands at Brewster’s, Esther’s or at the boat ramp and they will be recycled.

A Blessing of the Fleet will feature members of local clergy located on Four Tree Island blessing the tall ships and all boats as they pass by in the Parade of Sail.

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What to know about tickets and visiting the tall ships festival

The two tall ships that will be open to the public for tours at the Portsmouth Commercial Fish Pier are the Trinidad and the Ernestina-Morrissey. They will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, July 28-31. Admission to the festival and tours is $12 for adults. Children under 12 are free. A family ticket is $30 and admits one adult and up to three children ages 13 to 15. Tickets for Sail Portsmouth members, active military and seniors are $10. Tickets for ship tours and the festival venue can be purchased online at sailportsmouth.org/events and at the gate if still available.

Tickets, which are good for any time on any of the four days, provides admission to the Sail Portsmouth 2023 dockside venue to tour exhibitor booths, listen to entertainers, purchase food and interact with local pirates and period re-enactors.

Day sail tickets have sold out, but tickets at last check were still available for two-hour ocean sails on the Lynx July 27-31, leaving from and returning to the UNH Pier in New Castle. Tickets are $69 and passengers must be at least 6 years old. Parking at the pier is free. Tickets are at sailportsmouth.org/events.

All net proceeds from the festival go to the Sail Portsmouth Sea Challenge Scholarship Fund to support local high school youth who participate in experiential learning programs at sea on tall ships.

Tickets for all sails should be purchased online in advance at sailportsmouth.org/events.

Parking and free shuttle service during Sail Portsmouth festival

ADA-accessible public parking is available at Portsmouth's High-Hanover and Foundry Place garages, and at Little Harbour School during the festival, city officials announced. All parking is first come, first serve. There will be no parking at Peirce Island, the boat ramp, or on Four Tree Island for the Sail Portsmouth event.

Three ADA-equipped shuttles will run a free 20-minute loop between the parking garages and the Fish Pier, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on July 28-31. There will be a 1.5-hour period each day when only two shuttles are operating to allow the drivers to take their lunch breaks. At those times, there may be a longer wait for service. C&J Bus is underwriting a significant portion of the cost of the shuttle service, according to city officials.

The history of the tall ships coming to Sail Portsmouth 2023

Trinidad: The nao Trinidad is a replica of the flagship of the Magellan-Elcano expedition, which led the first sailing expedition around the world between 1519 and 1522, considered by many the greatest maritime feat in history. It’s an example of nao ships, which were first used as cargo ships in Spain and then later as exploration vessels. This full-sized replica was built by the Nao Victoria Foundation and launched in March of 2018.

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Denis Sullivan: The Denis Sullivan is a replica three-masted, wooden, gaff rigged schooner originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was built in 2000 as a sail training classroom and was a flagship of both the state of Wisconsin and of the United Nations Environment Programme until she was sold to the World Ocean School and moved to Boston, Massachusetts in late 2022. The Denis Sullivan is not a replica of a single ship, but was inspired by the design of the Great Lakes cargo schooners of the 19th century. The year, the Seacoast teens chosen for Sail Portsmouth’s Sea Challenge program will spend a week learning to sail aboard the Denis Sullivan.

Ernestina-Morrissey: The schooner Ernestina-Morrissey was built in 1894 at the James and Tarr Shipyard for the Gloucester, Massachusetts fishing fleet. It first served as a Gloucester Grand Banks fishing vessel, then as an Arctic explorer sailing to within 600 miles of the North Pole, and as a World War II survey and supply vessel. Between 1946 and 1965, she served as the last of Cabo Verde’s transatlantic packet ships, bringing immigrants to the U.S. The Republic of Cabo Verde gave the ship back to the U.S. as a gift in 1982, and she became a maritime education and ambassador. The Ernestina-Morrissey recently underwent a full restoration at the Boothbay Harbor/ Bristol Marine Shipyard in Maine.

Bowdoin: The schooner Bowdoin is the flagship of the Maine Maritime Academy sail training fleet, and the official sailing vessel of the state of Maine. Built in 1921 for exploring the Arctic waters, she is one of the strongest wooden vessels ever constructed. Between 1921 and 1954, she made 26 voyages above the Arctic Circle under the command of explorer Donald B. MacMillian. As MMA’s flagship, the Bowdoin now trains MMS students to sail and manage traditional and modern sail vessels, and serves the state of Maine, teaching about maritime history.

Lynx: Lynx is a square topsail schooner based in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and was built to represent the design and operation of a privateer schooner of the War of 1812. The original Lynx, a privateer ship, was a “letter of marque” Baltimore Clipper commissioned at the start of the war to defend America. She completed one voyage, running the Royal Navy blockade, before the British captured her in 1813 at the start of her second voyage and took her into service as HMS Mosquidobit. The Lynx now serves as a living history museum and is operated in keeping with the maritime traditions of early 19th century America. She is also a sail training vessel, serving as a classroom for the study of historical, environmental, and ecological issues.

The Sail Portsmouth festival is sponsored by these businesses: Appledore Engineering; Beswick Engineering; Black Dog Divers, Crane and Rigging, and Barges; Cambridge Trust; Granite State Minerals; Piscataqua Savings Bank; New England Dock and Deck; Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel and Seacoast Maritime Charters; and by these organizations the Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth, Portsmouth NH 400 and Tall Ships America.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: 2023 Sail Portsmouth tall ships festival: Ticket info and more