The Tall Ships Race 2000, which sails into Bermuda this June, will not be the only event boasting processions of beautiful sailing ships on the Atlantic Ocean.

As well as the fleet of vessels taking part in the race, there will be tall ships from 60 nations joining in Operation Sail 2000, a magnificent parade visiting eight US cities between May and July this year.

Unlike Tall Ships 2000 -- which is being organised by the International Sail Training Association and set to race to and from ports on both sides, and in the middle, of the Atlantic -- Operation Sail 2000 is a parade sticking only to the US eastern seaboard.

The fleet will gather first in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the end of May and spend the next two months travelling to Miami, Norfolk, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, New London and Portland, Maine.

At the same time, vessels taking part in Tall Ships 2000 will be sailing from Bermuda to different locations on the US coast, including Charleston and Boston and also some of the same cities.

A story in the Philadelphia Inquirer explained that the biggest "bang'' for Operation Sail 2000 will be in New York City.

It said: "Arriving in time for 224th Independence Day observances, organisers expect the ship's week there to attract more than 40,000 spectator vessels and help draw about four million people into the city.'' The story added that organisers were naming this particular parade as "the longest such parade ever''.

It continued: "US Navy and Coast Guard ships will line ten miles off New York Harbour and President (Bill) Clinton and other dignitaries will review the ships from the deck of an aircraft carrier.'' There will also be a large fireworks display and other events could include a Broadway parade, a laser show above New York Harbour, a tall-ships race, concerts, ship tours and sail training demonstrations.

Asked if Tall Ships 2000-Bermuda organisers saw this parade as something which could take the spotlight off the Island or other race destinations, events coordinator Carol Wills said: "No, as we understand it the two events can co-exist.'' She added that accommodations for arriving Tall Ships Race crews -- which will sail-in from Cadiz, Spain on June 9 -- were already filling up fast.

"We never anticipated that Bermuda would have any extra visitors than the ones we were originally expecting anyway,'' she said.

Mrs. Wills explained that I.S.T.A and Operation Sail were originally planning to work together and make their respective events into one.

"However,'' she said, "the two organisations just couldn't reach an agreement on how to handle things, so they are each doing their own thing.'' But Mrs. Wills was confident that both events happening at the same time would add up to one truly "spectacular'' show.

She said many ships taking part in the race would have a chance to go to other ports during their month travelling the east coast before meeting up in Boston for the leg to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

And asked how organisation was coming for the local side of things, Mrs. Wills said: "It's going really well. We've received word that we'll be getting around a dozen of the class A ships coming to Bermuda. Those are the really big ones, between 200 and 400 feet, and they come from places such as Indonesia, Japan, Russia and Holland.'' She also said the recruitment of young Bermudians was, so far, very successful, with applicants for most of the various legs of the race coming in in equal amounts.

"It's really looking to be a good event for Bermuda,'' she said.