Bermuda Tall Ships Festival won the top award given to a Tall Ships Port for a "first-class" event.

The prestigious award was presented this past weekend at the International Sail Training and Tall Ships Conference in Istanbul, Turkey.

It was presented in front of 350 delegates from more than 35 countries for Bermuda's participation in the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 event.

According to a press release, the Robin Duchesne Memorial Trophy is "highly sought after".

The audience was told that Bermuda had hosted a "first-class" event.

The Robin Duchesne Memorial Trophy, also known as "Robin's Hat" is awarded annually by the Trustees of Sail Training International (STI) for "outstanding services" to sail training and Tall Ships Bermuda was congratulated for their long-term and continued commitment to sail training", it said.

Bermuda's winning of the award was overwhelmingly supported by the Tall Ships captains who continued to praise the Island for the outstanding welcome that they received from Tall Ships Bermuda and the many members of the community and volunteers who hosted them.

Paul Bishop, STI Head of Race Directorate also told the audience that Bermuda had run a first-class trainee placement programme in the Tall Ships 2000 Race, and in this summer's Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 race.

He said Bermuda placed more trainees on ships than any of the other ports.

Mr Bishop commended the Tall Ships Bermuda team for their sail training programme and for their support of the Spirit of Bermuda sail training programme, and said they had been excellent examples over the past few years.

As a result, Tall Ships Bermuda has been invited to present a workshop on Trainee Recruitment to future host ports at next year's Annual Sail Training Conference in Stavanger, Norway.

Tall Ships Bermuda Chairman, John Wadson who was recently appointed to the board of Tall Ships International Limited (TSIL) was also recognised by the newly-formed International Youth Forum (IYF) for advocating that STI create the IYF to give young people a direct voice in Sail Training International.

Each of the STI member countries have been invited to select a representative and Tall Ships Bermuda will soon nominate a young person from Bermuda to sit on the forum.