The Era of the Clipper Ships
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Maritime Book Review
Published by Tide-mark Press Ltd.
P.O. Box 280311, East Hartford, CT 06128-0311
In Canada: 34 Armstrong Avenue, Georgetown, Ontario L7G 4R9
Released by TIDE-MARK PRESS, June 2002
Contact: Eric Norgaard, VP for Sales and Marketing
1.800.338-2508, ext 22
e-mail: eric@tide-mark.com
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Reviewed by Donald Gunn Ross III
The first thing that you notice as you begin to turn the pages of this remarkable book is the high quality of the photography and printing that runs throughout. Then the stunning tall ships subject matter grabs you page after page as each member of the fleet for the 21st Century is presented in the best possible light and captured on film by a master photographer as she sails on by. Thad Koza often goes on sailing excursions on tall ships around the world and is responsible for most of the pictures. The picture credits for the fourteen or so others are on the Acknowledgments page where Koza also mentions the many people who made the book possible. All share a love of the sea and sailing ships. One just has to admire the wonderful life that Thad Koza must lead sailing around the world with his camera, always ready to catch the excitement of the moment of a tall ship approaching off the starboard bow, all sails set, with pennants flying in the wind. The inside of the cover spells out the essence of the book to come.
This new and revised third edition of Tall ships includes photographs and descriptions of more than 200 vessels, including the major class "A" ships along with many class "B" and "C" vessels from around the world. Organized alphabetically for easy reference. Tall Ships offers a major photograph of each vessel, supplemented by many photographs of details ranging from figure heads and binnacles to flags and rigging. The text of Tall Ships describes each ship featured, its history and notable events under sail, along with its technical specifications. This unique guide is an ideal book for everyone interested in tall ships and their enduring history and traditions.
There are also some encouraging testimonial words from Peter A. Mello, the Executive Director of the American Sail Training Association, www.tallships.sailtraining.org, who steadfastly elaborates upon their mission statement as stated below.
The mission of the American Sail Training Association is to encourage character building through sail training, to promote sail training to the North American public, and to support education under sail.
Then there's the Tall Ships Rigs page featuring pen & Ink drawings of the different rigs, followed by the rig and sail plan of the Statsraad Lehmkuhl that helps to familiarize the reader with all the different masts, yards and sails as a source of reference for all 200 or so pages to come.
Followed by the Classes of Tall Ships page that sorts the fleet out some more into four classes: Class A, Class A / Division II, Class B and Class C.
The Tall Ships, Tall Ships! Page comes next and waxes most eloquently upon "this vital condition-interdependence" that the former chairman of ASTA, Captain David Wood elabortated upon at an address to a group of journalists and ASTA members.
Sail training brings people together in a challenging situation and forces them to summon all their resources to meet difficulty and danger alongside others they may not know at all, but with whom they share a common goal and a unique mutual interdependence. Tall ship events bring proud and substantial symbols of other places and cultures, crewed by enthusiastic representatives of those places and cultures, to port cities, where they mingle in an atmosphere of friendship and celebration of both their differences and similarities.
What follows is a treat for the eyes and soul, page after page, that truly captures the spirit of the fleet of the 21st Century upon every ocean of the world in all its glory. Pictures say a thousand words so I selected a few pages to present here for this review. This should be more than enough to convince everyone that Tall Ships: The Fleet For The 21st Century is certainly a book worth having around and a welcome addition to any maritime library.
At the end of the book there is a listing of Maritime Museums, a Glossary, a Bibliography and an Index.
Happy sails
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The Era of the Clipper Ships / Bibliography / Maritime Links / Home / McKay Clan / Directory / Introduction / Tradewinds
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