New Heights

The tall ships coming to Lake Erie are certainly majestic, but they have a pretty lofty mission beyond entertainment. Thirty-five teenagers will board the boats in Cleveland, Ohio, for a three-day voyage to test what they’re made of.

The young sailor had a fear of heights.

Still, she was being asked to climb 115 feet to fix a flag that had become tangled in the lines. This was her chance to overcome her fears — and she did it.

By the time her adventure aboard a tall ship was over, she was crying, but not out of fear. “She was in tears about having to leave because she had such a wonderful experience,” says Claudia Bankert, who’s been sailing since she was 16 and volunteers as a crew member aboard the Roald Amundsen. “And that’s what sail training is. Accomplishing something that nobody — and, most of all, you — never thought you could do.”

This July, 35 Northeast Ohio students will have a similar experience when the tall ships come to Cleveland. The boys and girls — all under the age of 18 — were hand-selected for a three-night voyage aboard ships racing in the Great Lakes United Tall Ships Challenge.

“Outward bound is a nautical term that implies you’re leaving the safety of the harbor — the safety and security of everything you know — for the unknown,” says Marcia Mauter, director of the Institute for Creative Leadership in Cleveland, which facilitated a team-work-building training session for the students. “The whole idea is to get rid of the distractions and just be with the people you’re with in really challenging ways that test your mettle. Those are the learning moments you’re going to remember for the rest of your life.”

It’s an incredible voyage, but hardly a vacation.

Once onboard, there’s work to be done, says Eileen Smotzer, a member of the Rotary Club of Cleveland, which is sponsoring the youth sails. “Each ship has a mission and a set of responsibilities and duties that all of the students — no matter if it’s a bad day, a good day, a rainy day, a sunny day or maybe they have a little bit of seasickness — all of the students are expected to be part of that crew.”

Or, as Roald Amundsen captain Hugo Bauer says more succinctly, “There are no passengers. They have to work.” Students, he says, steer the ship, act as lookouts, clean and help in the kitchen.

They also learn to watch out for one another.

“There’s one rule on every ship I’ve ever been on,” says Bankert. “The ship comes first, your shipmates come second and you come third.”

All of the students participated in a sailing boot camp, which focussed on increasing the collaboration and trust among the group, recognizing the strengths that each person brings, and building peer leadership skills.

“It’s an awe-inspiring experience standing at the wheel, driving this 200-foot machine of wind and muscle through the dark seas at 3 o’clock in the morning, maybe during a storm, maybe in the freezing cold,” says Bankert. “We all have the same goal: to get from point A to point B in one piece. You get this sense of responsibility within yourself for the ship and for the well-being of everybody.”


Appledore IV

10 Must-see Tall Ships

Appledore IV

Flag: USA

Rig: Topsail
schooner

Home port:
Bay City, Mich.

Rig height: 76 feet

Built: 1989

Mission: “To foster environmental stewardship of the Saginaw Bay watershed and the Great Lakes ecosystem.”


HMS Bounty

Flag: USA

Rig: Full rigged ship

Home port: Long Island, N.Y.

Rig height: 115 feet

Built: 1960

Mission: Originally built for the 1962 movie Mutiny on the Bounty, she preserves the skills of square rigged sailing in conjunction with youth education and sail training.


Denis Sullivan

Flag: USA

Rig: Three-masted schooner

Home port: Milwaukee, Wis.

Rig height: 95 feet

Built: 2000

Mission: Reestablishing the historical, cultural and environmental bonds between the community and one of its most valuable resources, the Great Lakes.


Photo credit: Brett Yates
Europa

Europa

Flag: The Netherlands

Rig: Barque

Home port: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Rig height: 109 feet

Built: 1911 (in Hamburg, Germany)

Mission: Sail training. Guest crew learn how to stand watch, take turns steering or being lookouts, take in or set sails, scrub the decks and learn traditional seafaring/seamanship skills.


Niagara

Flag: USA

Rig: Brig

Home port: Erie, Pa.

Rig height: 120 feet

Built: 1988

Mission: A replica of a war ship from 1812, she represents the Battle of Lake Erie.


Playfair

Flag: Canada

Rig: Brigantine

Home port: Toronto, Ontario

Rig height: 54 feet

Built: 1973

Mission: Designed specifically for youth sail training. Students between the ages of 13 and 18 become the working crew, making 24-hour passages from ports all over the Great Lakes.


Pride of Baltimore II

Flag: USA

Rig: Topsail schooner

Home port: Baltimore, Md.

Rig height: 107 feet

Built: 1997-98

Mission: Promotes historical education regarding Baltimore Clippers, naval innovation, the War of 1812 and the penning of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It serves as a visual representative of American history and entrepreneurship for Maryland and the port of Baltimore.


Lynx

Lynx

Flag: USA

Rig: Square topsail schooner

Home port: Newport Beach, Calif.

Rig height: 94 feet

Built: 2001

Mission: The original served as a blockade runner and was among the first ships to defend the United States during the War of 1812. This re-creation serves as a living history museum; crew members wear period uniforms and operate the ship in keeping with the maritime traditions of early 19th-century America.


Roald Amundsen

Flag: Germany

Rig: Brig

Home port: Eckernforde, Germany

Rig height: 105 feet

Built: 1952

Mission: Offers sail training year-round with voyages lasting one to three weeks. The ship also competes in tall ship races each year.


The Unicorn

Flag: USA

Rig: Topsail schooner

Home port: Clinton, N.J.

Rig height: 96 feet

Built: 1947

Mission: The Unicorn is the only all-female-crewed tall ship in the world. Her mission is to build confidence, enhance self-esteem, develop social conscience and teach the value of sisters working together toward a common goal.