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The FALMOUTH Tall Ships Race 2021 event has been canceled for the second year in a row due to Covid – but the people behind the event say other options are being considered.
The announcement was made by the organizers this afternoon (June 22nd) after a meeting between the Falmouth and Sail Training International organizers on Friday to discuss the situation.
The decision was made by the Falmouth Town Council, the Falmouth Town Team, the Falmouth Tall Ships Association and key strategic partners.
A statement made to the package by the Falmouth Town team this afternoon said the event, scheduled for August 17-19, 2021, is canceled due to the ongoing unsafe situation across Europe and around the world regarding the COVID pandemic has been.
But they said other possible options are being explored that will be announced by the team in the near future
“This news may not come as a surprise,” the team said in a statement. “The Covid situation, and particularly the highly transmissible Delta variant, continues to affect international travel, the events sector and, crucially for this event, the ability of tall ships to travel and the safe accommodation of the crew – an essential aspect of their commercial viability.”
Falmouth Mayor, Councilor Steve Eva, said: “This is disappointing news, of course, but understandable. We know the Tall Ship events are loved by many people in Falmouth, Cornwall and beyond, but given the current situation and especially the challenges the ships and their captains face, this is the right one based on the information currently available Decision time.
“I know a lot of work went into planning the event by the Town Team and partners, and I want to thank you all for your efforts.”
The Falmouth Town Team (a public-private partnership between Falmouth Town Council and Falmouth BID) said they will provide more updates in the coming weeks. People can visit www.falmouth.co.uk or keep an eye on the Packet website for more news.
The ever-changing situation with Covid in Europe and the rise in Covid cases in Falmouth have resulted in difficulties getting crews together to sail the boats, which is critical to ensuring the event is economically viable.
The writing was on the wall after the port city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, which, as one of the port cities, would host the International Sailing Training Regatta The Tall Ships Races in 2021, announced that it would cancel this year’s event, which would return to the Baltic Sea in 2024. Instead, Tallinn is hosting a festival in the city’s five ports from June 16-18.
It was announced back in November last year that the event would be returning to the city, but in the end the plan was beaten by Covid.
The race was scheduled to begin in Falmouth on August 19th, with the ships arriving the week before. If it had happened, the maritime event would have been the sixth time Falmouth had hosted the tall ships, with the inaugural event for the city being held in 1966.
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