City of Adelaide

[Kirbstone]

Sailing ships are certainly a breath of fresh air from Tugboats & freighters &c.

That boat, the Europa certainly gets about. She's a handy size and rigged very similarly to the Alexander von Humboldt, which is financed by Beck's Beer and her hull & sails are green.
The Europa came to Waterford in 2011 and I got some nice shots of her in light airs before the start of that race. Alas I lost them in a computer crash since, so that pic. is a welcome addition. Thanks for that, Jack.

T.

[crfriend]

Here's a nice boat in Auckland harbour right now.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/80568331@N ... /lightbox/

Oh, my, isn't she a beauty -- and she hides her age well!

There's a nice writeup of her on Wikipedia including passing mention of her visit to New Zealand.

[crfriend]

Sailing ships are certainly a breath of fresh air from Tugboats & freighters &c.

Tugs and freighters have their own charms, it just takes a while to get to appreciate them. If one spends enough time on the water one begins to recognize the "familiar faces" of said ships when in port, and one gets to eventually consider them "old friends" in a way. True, they're never as pristine as the always-gussied-up tall ship, but these are vessels that have to earn their living -- and earn it they do, every day of their working lifetimes. So they're not supermodels: big fat hairy deal.

Given a choice between the "supermodel world" of the modern Tall Ship and cruise-liner (the latter of which look like overly top-heavy wedding-cakes anyway rather than proper ships) and the workaday world of the humble tug, tanker, and freighter I know which I'd choose in a heartbeat. It's true that I've always had a warm spot for "working class" ships, and it's not lost on me that sailing vessels were once just that -- hence my fascination with the hull-lines on the City of Adelaide.

Thanks for the shot of Europa, Jack. Perhaps if I get out on the water next year I'll annoy Tom with some shots of Great Eastern or a few nameless but nonetheless familiar barges that I see all the time in Boston.

Besides, when the supermodels get into trouble who do they call? The humble tugboat.

[Jack Williams]

The Europa, visiting for a tall ships regatta, was built in 1911 under the name of "Senator Brockes"at the Stulcken shipyard in Hamburg. She served as a lightship on the river Elbe, before being completely rebuilt and rigged as a three-masted barque in the Netherlands in the late 1980s, I see.

[Big and Bashful]

Beautiful! not sure about the luxury floating training shoe though, If I had enough millions I would prefer a boat whic looked like a boat!

[Kirbstone]

I've just dug out a pic. of Alexander von Humboldt, very similar in size and rig to Europa, has a straighter sheerline and waist 'filled in'.

She is based in Bremerhafen, just across the river from Nordenham where I lived and worked for 7 years, so she was a frequent sight and regular participant in tall ships' races &c. Still is.

T.

[Jack Williams]

I do like the black hull.

[Kirbstone]

Interesting,
Some 20 years ago when those green sails were new they matched the hull perfectly. Now they are quite faded and lighter overall and the exposure there makes the green hull look black. Note that the more frequently used sails are more faded than others.
I have recently seen pics of her with a new set of white sails, which removes much of her distinctiveness. Apparently in August 2010 she was taken over from Beck's by the City of Bremerhafen, given a new set of sails & refit and launched as the Alex. von H. II. They kept the green hull.

I've found my pic. of the Europa.

T.

[Sarongman]

This one, the Wafa Kocht, sitting in a backwater of Sydney harbour, is well past restoration. This picture, though, is lovely with the mangroves growing through the hull.

Wafa Kocht.jpg