Vital Spark/ Arctic Penguin

Berthed at the pier on Loch Fyne ,click HERE to visit the Inveraray Maritime Museum.

The Glenlee

Built in 1896 in Port Glasgow,the Glenlee is one of only five Clydebuilt sailing ships still afloat.

Click HERE to see the official site and learn more about her time afloat.

Bounty

Perhaps one of the most famous replica sail ships afloat,much has been written about the HMS Bounty,here is an article from the official Bounty website.

The British Admiralty purchased a coal carrying merchant ship operating on the coast of England, named Bethia, renamed her Bounty, and re-commissioned her in 1787 for a special mission. Bounty was to sail halfway around the world to the tiny island of Tahiti, collecting sapling breadfruit trees and transport them to the West Indies. Owners of the burgeoning British plantations there needed a cheap source of food for the workers.

To lead the mission, the Admiralty picked 33-year-old Lt. William Bligh, who had been the sailing master on HMS Resolution on Capt. Cook's last voyage of discovery. Though portrayed as an abusive tyrant by Hollywood, Bligh may be one of the greatest seamen who ever lived.

After trying for 30 days to make it westward around Cape Horn, as he had been ordered, Bligh turned about and headed East; around the Cape of Good Hope, across the whole width of the Indian Ocean, then Northeast into the Pacific, arriving in Tahiti after a l0-month voyage. Bligh and the crew set about collecting the more than 1000 breadfruit plants they were to take to the Caribbean. They spent five months in Tahiti, during which time Bligh allowed a number of the crew to live ashore, to care for the potted breadfruit plants. Without the discipline and rigid schedule of the sea, the men went native. Three crewmen deserted, hoping to spend their days in this tropical paradise but they were recaptured by Bligh and flogged.

Three weeks out of Tahiti, en route to the West Indies with the breadfruit plants, Master's Mate (Acting Lieutenant) Fletcher Christian, angered and humiliated over the continual abuse from Capt. Bligh took the ship. Of the 44 men on board, 31 sided with Bligh. Of the 31, 18 went over the side to be set adrift in the Bounty's launch with Bligh. The mutineers, numbering about half of the remaining 25 crewmen, but in command of the Bounty having secured all the firearms aboard, sailed the ship to the island of Tubuai. After an unsuccessful three- month effort to settle on the island, they returned to Tahiti, put 16 of the crew ashore, some loyal to Bligh, some mutineers. Fletcher Christian and eight Bounty crew, accompanied by six Tahitian men and twelve women, one with a baby, sailed away on the Bounty hoping to hide forever from the long arm of the British law.

Bligh, having no charts, navigated the launch 3600 nautical miles to safety in 41 days using only a sextant and a pocket watch. Only one man died on the voyage - stoned to death by angry natives on the first island they tried to land on. The launch voyage was a feat of navigation unparalleled to this day.

The mutineers eventually settled on Pitcairn Island, an isolated rock in the Pacific that was misplaced on British charts. They burned the ship in what is now called Bounty Bay and weren't discovered for 18 years.

After all but two of the fifteen men that settled on Pitcairn had been killed in bloody murders, Midshipman Edward Young and Able Bodied Seaman John Adams began building a society based on the ship's bible. Edward Young died in 1800, leaving John Adams the sole survivor. Today their descendants still live there in a moralistic community, clinging to their tiny rock, struggling to survive in today's technological world.

You can find the official site HERET

Stavros S Niarchos

Docked at at Greenock is theThe Stavros S Niarchos a British brig-rigged tall ship owned and operated by the Tall Ships Youth Trust. She is primarily designed to provide young people with the opportunity to undertake voyages as character-building exercises, rather than pure sail-training. She is also used for adult voyages and holidays, which help subsidise the operation of the ship.

Click HERE for the official website

Matthew

Matthew at the Glasgow River Festival 2006.

This is a replica of the original built 500 years ago.
John Cabbot was a famous 15th century explorer,credited for discovering North America.
Matthew is based in Bristol.


click HERE for more information.

Loth Lorien

Loth Lorien is a Dutch flagged 48m. long 3 masted gaff rigged schooner. She was built as a herring lugger in 1907 at Bergen and since converted as a small cruise ship with cabin accommodation for 34, a saloon that seats 50.

Loth Lorien

Anchored off the coast of Greenock tonight was the sail ship Loth Lorien,she will be heading upriver to Glasgow for the River Festival which starts on Saturday.


Loth Lorien is a Dutch flagged 48m. long 3 masted gaff rigged schooner. She was built as a herring lugger in 1907 at Bergen and since converted as a small cruise ship with cabin accommodation for 34, a saloon that seats 50.

Glaciere

The sail ship Glaciere which is based in Liverpool heads for Victoria Harbour in Greenock,she had just sailed down from Glasgow after visiting The River festival.