What Are All Those Tall Ships Doing Here?

VICTORIA, BC (May 30, 2011) – Over the first half of June, the Victoria Tall Ships Society will welcome several tall ships to the Inner Harbour to participate in its 2011 Educational Outreach Programme. A large part of the Victoria Tall Ships Society mandate is to facilitate opportunities for youth to experience sailing on a tall ship.

On June 1, the topsail ketch Hawaiian Chieftain will take navy cadets from Victoria's Inner Harbour to Sidney. The cadets will also visit the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney.

On the weekend of June 10 to 12, Zodiac (the largest working schooner on the West Coast) and Adventuress (a gaff topsail schooner) will take groups of youth on day sails in and out of the Inner Harbour. The two schooners will join Victoria's own S.A.L.T.S. (Sail and Life Training Society) ships Pacific Grace and Pacific Swift in the Inner Harbour. The day sails for youth are made possible by the generous support of BC Ferries.

Says Roger Girouard, President of the Victoria Tall Ships Society, "A primary aim of the Society, perhaps overshadowed by the festivals, is to introduce young people to the lure of the sea, the magic of sail and the wonder of Tall Ships. Our goal is part education, part excitement. This year, we are working with diverse community groups including the Boys and Girls Club, First Nations youth and navy cadets, to offer a special opportunity to various kids deserving a unique experience. They're our future. They're worth it."

A publicly-accessible Tall Ships Festival has been postponed for this year, but is planned for the future.

The Victoria Tall Ships Society is a non-profit organization that seeks to provide a legacy for youth and the life lessons learned through sail training while promoting Victoria's rich maritime history. For further information on the Victoria Tall Ships Society, please visit  www.tallshipsvictoria.ca

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2011 Tall Ships Festival Not Going Ahead

VICTORIA, BC (Dec. 16, 2010) – The tough economic climate has taken the wind out of the sails of the 2011 Victoria Tall Ships Festival and it will not proceed next June as planned, organizers of the event announced today.

“The gap between the funds we have raised in the community and what it will cost to stage the festival is too large to bridge,” said Victoria Tall Ships Society president Roger Girouard.  “This is a fiscally responsible decision by our Board of Directors. The Society is not prepared to spend money it doesn’t have or to make promises to the community and our partners that we will be unable to keep.”

The four-day festival was scheduled to take place June 9-12, 2011 in Victoria’s Inner Harbour. The Victoria Tall Ships Society, a volunteer group of people who are passionate about bringing Tall Ships festivals to Victoria, has staged successful events in 2005 and 2008.

“There is tremendous enthusiasm in the community for this festival, but the tough economic climate hampered our ability this year to raise the needed funds to stage a successful event in June,” said Girouard.

The hugely popular 2008 Tall Ships Festival attracted more than 32,000 paid attendees and an independent report showed that the event generated an economic impact of more than $8 million for the local economy based on visitor spending.

“The Victoria Tall Ships Society remains focused on bringing Tall Ships festivals to our wonderful city. We look forward to welcoming these magnificent sailing vessels to Victoria again in the future,” Girouard added.

The Victoria Tall Ships Society wishes to thank its corporate partners, the City of Victoria, the Provincial Capital Commission, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, Tourism Victoria, the hundreds of dedicated volunteers and the many other groups who continue to support the Society’s efforts to make Victoria a port of call for exciting Tall Ships events.

By taking this unprecedented action now, the Victoria Tall Ships Society will leave no outstanding debts owed to any sponsor, ships captain, or partner.

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Fuller Takes the Helm for 2011 Victoria Tall Ships Festival

Victoria, BC (2010-03-16) – Local tourism and marketing veteran Jeannie Fuller is taking the helm as the newly-appointed Executive Director of the Victoria Tall Ships Society, the organizing group for the 2011 Victoria Tall Ships Festival.  A native of Victoria, Fuller has an extensive career in marketing, event planning and project management, with more than 20 years in the tourism industry. She was a project manager for the highly-successful BC150 celebrations, managing and producing events in more than 50 communities across British Columbia.

“My aim is to build on the strong community partnerships that make this maritime festival such a great success for Greater Victoria,” said Fuller. “Victoria loves Tall Ships. This festival is also a major tourism draw that creates huge economic benefits for local businesses.” Fuller holds a graduate certificate in Project Management from Royal Roads University, and completed a foundation program in Tourism Management at Simon Fraser University. She is also a business management graduate of the Chamberlain School of Boston, Massachusetts. She is a past director of the Maritime Museum of BC Society.  “Ms. Fuller brings a proven track record of event planning and marketing success to our organization,” said Victoria Tall Ships Society president Barry Newcomb. “She has been involved in both previous festivals and we’re extremely pleased that she will be leading our efforts over the next 16 months to introduce more people, particularly youth, to the joy of these majestic sailing ships.”

The Victoria Tall Ships Society has staged successful Tall Ships Festivals in 2005 and 2008. The next festival is slated for June 2011, final dates are still being negotiated with the American Sail Training Association, organizers of the Tall Ships Challenge® race series, and will be announced later this spring.

In 2005 and again in 2008, more than two-dozen of the world’s finest Tall Ships sailed into Victoria’s historic Inner Harbour for a four-day festival that featured exciting ship tours and a wide variety of dockside activities, including a pirate school for kids, sail training activities for youth, live music, artists, maritime cultural displays, model boat building and much more. The festival attracted more than 32,500 paid attendees and left in its wake $5.8 million in economic impact for the local economy.

The Victoria Tall Ships Society is a not-for-profit organization, incorporated in May 2003 for the purpose of bringing a Tall Ships Festival to Victoria. The society’s vision is to promote a legacy for youth and the life lessons learned through sail training and to promote Victoria’s rich maritime history.

As in 2005 and 2008, ongoing festival supporter and partner, the Provincial Capital Commission, will be providing the society with office space at their headquarters located in downtown Victoria at 613 Pandora Avenue.

For more information about the Victoria Tall Ships Society, visit http://tallshipsvictoria.ca/.

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