Get your own Tallship experience! Win a week on a historical tall ship.

Get your own Tallship experience! Win a week on a historical tall ship.

Get your own Tall ship experience! A week on board of Frigate Shtandart! for 3 winners of the media competition:

Help us to spread the information about Cutty Sark crowd funding campaign and get a week of sailing with frigate SHTANDART ( NP Projekt Shtandart )
It is easy to take part in the competition – take your individual link to the crowdfunding campaign of new Cutty Sark (click the photo below). When you share your individual link (which can be created on the left side of Indiegogo page igg.me/at/cutty-sark), everyone who support the project by your advice, will help you to win.

Three most active supporters will be invited to join one of the Shtandart’s voyages. Make your choice – a week of sailing under Mediterranean sun or with the winds of the North sea?
Join the competition now: new.cutty-sark.org

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Did you know that Cutty Sark’s name derives from the famous poem ‘Tam O’ Shanter’ by Robert Burns?
There is an old Scottish legend about a farmer called Tam O’Shanter who is chased by a scantily-clad witch ‘Nannie’, dressed only in a ‘cutty sark’an archaic Scottish name for a short nightdress. This legend was turned into a poem by Robert Burns. The character of Nannie in the poem is depicted as the figurehead which adorns Cutty Sark’s bow.
Jock Willis, the original owner of the ship, chose the name Cutty Sark, which was allegedly suggested to him by the ship’s designer, Hercules Linton. It is a rather peculiar name for a ship, as in legend, witches are unable to cross water.
Jock Willis was a well-read man who enjoyed poetry. During his time as a ship’s captain, he would read French novels in his cabin. He also named one of his other ships the Hallowe’en, the title of another Burns poem. Although “Cutty Sark” was a little unusual, it certainly suits a sleek, swift tea clipper, giving her an air of magic and mystery.
Watch the video of the story. Support us on Indiegogo! Happy Halloween everybody!

‘Yachting world’ about the Cutty Sark 2Sail project

‘Yachting world’ about the Cutty Sark 2Sail project

 Yachting World Picture

    Replica of tea clipper Cutty Sark may sail 150 years on

 

 Few visitors to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich leave without fantasising what the mighty tea and wool clipper Cutty Sark would be like if she were to be freed from her dry dock dungeon, as Chichester’s Gypsy Moth IV was in 2005. But in the case of Cutty Sark, this cannot happen as she has deteriorated too far. However, there is a scheme afoot to build a full-size replica of the clipper ship by 2019, the 150th anniversary of the Cutty Sark’s launch, writes Mike Owen. The proposal was made by Russian sailor Vladimir Martus in September to officers and members of the Royal Yacht Squadron as he showed his replica of Peter the Great’s 115ft naval flagship from 1703, Shtandart. Just as with Shtandart, the 279ft three-masted Cutty Sark 2 would be built along original lines using traditional methods. It would be a huge challenge, with the project team mostly volunteers. Cutty Sark was of composite construction, timber on forged iron frames, using long-gone skills that must be relearned. Few examples beyond Cutty Sark remain. The Cutty Sark 2 Sail Foundation has just been granted UK charitable status and fund raising has begun. The project cost is estimated at €28 million. The construction site has yet to be finalised and although the foundation is looking at the UK as first choice, the final decision will be influenced by cost, ease of access and accommodation. While fundraising and documenting will continue throughout 2016 before the build begins ahead of a planned launch in September 2019, discussions have begun with Dykstra Naval Architects, renowned for their modern and neo-classic yachts. Vladimir Martus explains: “We are hoping to have no main engine so we can sail the clipper route just as Cutty Sark did, having two ship’s boats on deck that would act as tug boats to help with manoeuvring if needed. There will be some modern equipment – navigation, communication and safety kit – but, as on Shtandart, this will not be seen from outside. Also all the masts, rigging and steering will replicate the original Cutty Sark.” When complete Cutty Sark 2 will operate as an international training ship for crew young and old, and also be employed as a specialist dry cargo vessel, promoting the use of environmentally friendly sailing freight vessels. The team seeks volunteers and contributors. To discover more, go to www.cutty-sark.org and www.shtandart.eu

Published in Yachting World magazine, November 2015 

 

Welcome to ‪#‎reborn2sail‬

Welcome to ‪#‎reborn2sail‬

You are on the page of new Cutty Sark. This is a Dream ship so far, and it will take time and efforts to convert this Dream into reality. Why our team is doing this? Why we’ve spent more that a year discussing, arguing with each other, travelling far away for meetings, drafting and re-drafting texts and drawings? We believe that there many people who feel the same: the modern world is absorbed by computers. Don’t you feel isolated from the real world we all live in? Have you noticed that you life experiences are being replaced by virtual products, more and more?
We want to give people opportunity to return to lively perception. Our way is to build and sail historical ship, the way it was done centuries ago. Working on this is a REAL LIFE experience. Moving real planks, or caulking the real deck. Together with real people, who is going to became a real friends.
So let’s discover the world together, let’s find ourselves through this real adventure. Welcome to ‪#‎reborn2sail‬

A Pirates Life for Me

A Pirates Life for Me

The Shtandart, an exact replica of the famous frigate from the époque of Peter the Great has not been seen in Russia for a very long time and unfortunately there is little hope of seeing her there in the near future. One of the symbols of the City of St Petersburg, patronised by royalty and an iconic participant in the ‘Red Sails’ Festival, Shtandart has been forced to emigrate.

We met the captain of this three masted replica, Vladimir Martus, whist attending a tall ships regatta in Finland. The regatta was to commemorate the 300 year anniversary of the battle of Gangut. Shtandart had rushed from a film shoot in Holland (by the way, the Stars of Hollywood Blockbusters like ‘300 and ‘Troy’ took part in it)) to play the part of the Swedish frigate Elephant in the Gangut battle re-enactment.

So Vladimir how long has it been since Shtandart left Russia?

“It has been five years since we took the vessel in tow and after some severe arguments left Russia. We were forbidden to sail in Russia so I said – if it’s not possible here then I am taking the ship somewhere else where it is possible.”

Why didn’t the ship meet the Russian regulations?

“We were just told that the ship doesn’t meet them ‘in general’ but as it was built from wood it could never meet the regulations. For example: ‘no more than 50kg of combustible material per square meter on the deck. Of course Shtandart is impregnated with special fire retardants, but I asked the authorities what type of expert qualification I had to present but they just would not accept anything.

But the ship does meet foreign regulation doesn’t it?

“The Russian Yachting Federation examined and surveyed the ship and provided all the necessary documents. Unfortunately the Russian Ministry of Transport think that a social organisation like the Russian Yachting Federation is not capable of verifying the seaworthiness of a ship although in other countries it is just such organisations that do it. In any other country I just present the documentation provided by the Russian Yachting Federation and that’s it, because we don’t carry passengers. We only accept volunteers on board, who understand that it is for sport and that this implies risk and risky things like racing around the world are organised by social organisations. Of course that stupid conflagration with Rostransnadzor (The Federal Service for Supervision of Transport – Translators note) influenced the situation a lot. They called us a ‘bundle of wood’- I showed the inspectors’ signatures and asked how a ‘bundle of wood’ could get a licence? The last correspondence with the Russian Authorities took place in 2012. If I am not mistaken there were two letters from the Sea and Rive Registry, both were refusals.”

And where have you been hanging out since then?

“The first winter we spent in Oslo, then in Hamburg and the next two in the Netherlands. This winter we went to the Canaries.”

That must have been a good trip?

“No reason to be sad. Surely, if one has to lead a pirates’ life – why not enjoy it to the full? We went through the Bay of Biscay, across the Straits of Gibraltar, stopped in Morocco in Africa and moored up in Timbuktu Harbour. Then we explored six out of the seven islands on the Canaries Archipelago. This involved sailing non-stop for 1200 miles.

People are changing…and as for the crew the youngest was an eight month old girl! I’ve been on board for five years with hardly any break. Well I have been away for about ten days or so and my family visit from time to time. We did go to the Canaries together and they also joined me on the way from Holland to Finland.”

How do you pick your crew now?

“In the past it was like this: teenagers would turn up during the winter and work for eight hours a week. They knew that if they did this they could earn a free voyage. Our main source was from so called problem teenagers who had nothing to do. We almost caught them in the streets. They could not find a ‘real’ job, so they came and worked with us. It was an education of sorts for them. Then when we set of on a voyage – which is also hard work – they got a different type of education. And of course, the opportunity to sail on a unique replica of an historic frigate is a very unique experience indeed. There have been a lot of guys and girls who have benefitted through this sort of Shtandart School during the last ten years.

Now of course we have different methods of picking crew. People can read about our route on our website and join us at some point for a fee, usually 300-500 euros. But these are very different people to the whistle heads from St Petersburg. Now we get very responsible youngsters, real adventure seekers and each time I am surprised by the standard of the crew we have. There are no bores. For example we now have a group from Ukraine – 15 trainees.”

Ukrainians on board – what about the political atmosphere?

“All such talk is prohibited on board. On the one hand it is a ‘head in the sand’ policy but on the other all these discussions would do no good. Don’t frighten the ostrich because the floor is concrete! The sea is not the right environment for making more trouble!”

How does Shtandart earn her living?

“At festivals for example, we accept visitors on board and put a box out for donations. We can get up to 500 euros per day which helps to pay for fuel and crew transfers. Filmmaking also helps. We have just finished shooting in a Dutch film about Admiral Reuter which lasted for ten days. The special effects were provided by guys from Hollywood and although the director was Dutch he usually worked in Hollywood as well. The cast were all Dutch and it was a great experience. Of course special effects will be added by computer programs. Apart from our ship, there were two big tall ships and some small Dutch sailing yachts.”

Interestingly enough, having left Russian you have not joined any other Countries’ fleet, but in the re-enactment of the Battle of Gangut you played an ‘enemy’ – the Swedish ship Elephant.

“We’re always playing against Sweden in re-enactments of the battles of the époque of Peter the Great. But when I was planning the timetable for Shtandart I had a choice of either going to Norway to take part in a competition or to Finland for the Russian Regatta. To tell the truth, Norway is very appealing – it is amazing there with fjords, beautiful scenery and there is more money to be earned. But I decided that this is Russian History, the first victory of the Russian Fleet and it is more important. Regarding money…we shall earn it another way! We always need money; our sails are eleven years old for example. We decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign (it’s using the internet to raise funding for a specific project-editor’s note). We got almost ten thousand euros in four days! Three hundred and five people responded, mostly Russians. By the way, half of them have sailed with us at some time, but there were those who heard about us for the first time, loved the idea of such a ship, and decided to support us.”

When Shtandart was in Russia, you had planned to build a replica Admiralty building of Peter the Great as a museum for historic ship building. Now you are up to something else?

“Yes we have started a Cutty Sark Project. We are planning trips around possible sites which could become the new shipyard. We have many places to go and see, including Dumbarton in Scotland where the original ship was built.”

Do you think Shtandart could return to Russia?

“I don’t know anything for certain, but I will not return without first obtaining a solid legal position. If I had the correct documentation giving me the right to sail Shtandart we could return, but when Rostransnadzor come and ask me ‘who permitted you to sail’, thy will forbid it immediately. A ship dies without a crew and without any sailing. There are 40 people on board, we’ve been sailing for ten days – constantly repairing something at sea:- re-caulking some of the deck, repairing rigging and sails…if the ship is ashore then the volunteers will quickly disappear. The ship is kept alive by the people who sail in her.”


Source: The Novaya Gazeta Saint Peterrsburg http://novayagazeta.spb.ru/articles/9082/
Translated by Aliona Kravchuck

David T Morgan, Esq, MBE, TD

David T Morgan, Esq, MBE, TD

 

CUTTY SARK 2SAIL Foundation Chairman

David is Chairman of the Maritime Heritage Trust and previously of Heritage Afloat, and Vice Chairman of the Cutty Sark Trust. He is Deputy President of the Transport Trust and a Committee Member of Europa Nostra Industrial and Engineering Heritage Committee.

David is also Founder President of the European Federation of Museum and Tourist Railways and the World Association of Tourist Trams and Trains.  He served as Chairman of Heritage Railway Association  until 1st June 2014, and is also Chairman of Great Central Railway Plc and Vice President of the West Somerset Railway and President of the North Norfolk Railway. His initial involvement with preserved railways was as legal advisor, since he is a solicitor.

David retired from practice at the end of Ferbuary 2013.  He served for 32 years in the Territorial Army, ending up with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was decorated with the MBE by the Queen in 2003 for his services “to transport preservation in the UK and Europe”.

Mr John Robinson

Mr John Robinson

John’s 24-year career as a maritime curator was combined with extensive practical seafaring experience, including 32 years service with the Royal Naval Reserve and many thousands of miles under sail (He holds the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore qualification and an MCA Boatmaster’s Licence). Since retiring as Senior Curator of Water Transport at the Science Museum, he worked voluntarily for the European Maritime Heritage Organisation and serves as a Trustee of the Maritime Heritage Trust. His clients for consultancy studies have included the Heritage Lottery Fund, Trinity House Lighthouse Service and various maritime museums. A former member of the National Historic Ships Committee, he has a detailed knowledge of the UK’s heritage of historic ships and boats, and of ship preservation in European counties. John Robinson is an expert on all aspects of historic ship preservation and operation.

Captain Chris Blake OBE

Captain Chris Blake OBE

Captain Blake joined the Merchant Navy in 1962 and 13 years later moved to sail training. He has been captain of the Sir Winston Churchill and Malcolm Miller (Great Britain), STS Ji Fung (Hong Kong), STS Leeuwin (Western Australia), STS Kaisei (Japan) and delivery master of STS Young Endeavour, Britain’s bicentennial gift to Australia.

In 1993 Captain Blake took command of the replica vessel Endeavour and sailed her around the world twice, rounding both Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope during her travels to Europe and the Americas from Australia.

He holds the International Master Class I certificates with a square rig endorsement.

Captain Blake has been awarded the Freeman of the City of London, and Freeman of the City of Newark, USA. In 1996 he was awarded the Cutty Sark Medal for outstanding seamanship and leadership, and in 2001 received the OBE for services to Sail Training and Youth Development.