ships which have sailed from all over the world as part of the Tall Ships 2000 event.

Hamilton Rotary Club weekly luncheon attendees yesterday heard the latest news on the event from the Chairman of the Tall Ships 2000 in Bermuda, Brian Billings.

The first leg of the race began this week with ships leaving Southampton in the UK, for Cadiz, Spain. On April 23, other ships will leave Genoa in Italy for Cadiz.

On May 7 the ships will leave Cadiz and set sail for Bermuda.

Mr. Billings noted that the tall ships taking part in the event will be in Bermuda's waters for longer than at any other port during the race.

The ships will, at first, be docked and moored all around the Island but will berth alongside Front Street from June 8 until June 12.

Of the ships coming to Bermuda, there will be 16 Class A vessels which are ships that are more than 300-feet long.

Half of each ship's crew must be between the ages of 15 and 25 and activities during the 12 days the ships are in Bermuda are aimed at them.

More than 150 Bermudians will be sailing at different times on many of the tall ships and six are sailing on the first leg which is underway.

Local activities include a Tall Ships festival on Front Street, a water sports day on White's Island, a trainee parade in Hamilton and a talent show for both crew and locals.

On the morning of June 12, there will be a parade of sail out of the harbour and along North Shore.

This will be followed by a race to Charleston, South Carolina. Some skippers will take their vessels to other US ports on the East Coast.

By July 16, the ships will have gathered in Boston for a race to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then on to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

More information is available on extravaganza on the Internet at www.tallships2000.bm or from Caroline Wills on telephone 296-4696.