MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Five million people visited the tall ships of the Bicentennial Regatta

Tall ships with their sails displayed

This weekend and after five months at sea the eight tall vessels that participated in the Latinamerican Bicentennial Regatta docked in Veracruz, Mexico, the last leg of the long itinerary which was launched last February in Brazil and called at major ports in South America.

The vessels with all their sails to the wind made their triumphal entry to the bay where they honoured Mexican president Felipe Calderón and the head of the Bicentennial Regatta Committee, Chilean Rear Admiral Jose Miguel Romero Aguirre together with other top officials who watched the display on board the Mexican Navy vessel Papaluapan.

Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia celebrate in 2010 their national bicentennial, but for Mexico it is also the centenary of the Revolution, which made the whole event a double festivity.

R/A Romero who is also head of Chile’s First Naval Zone in Valparaíso underlined the success of the regatta, an idea originally launched by the navies of Chile and Argentina.
Over five million people visited the tall ships during their calls at the different ports since they left last February from Rio do Janeiro.

The initiative is considered so successful that there are plans to repeat the experience in 2014, and from then on every two, four or six years.

“There is also a proposal to create the fraternity of Great Latinamerican Sailing Vessels, which would naturally facilitate the organization of such events”, said R/A Romero.

The sailing vessels involved were Cuahutémoc, Mexico; La Esmeralda, Chile; Libertad, Argentina; Guayas, Ecuador; Cisne Branco, Brazil; Gloria, Colombia; Simon Bolivar, Venezuela and Capitan Miranda from Uruguay.