It may not have been the sunny fare that the southeast prides itself on but the grey clouds and occasional squalls did little to deter thousands from flocking to Waterford quays yesterday to see the tall ships arrive in port.
About 87 tall ships, crewed by over 3,000 people, have sailed to Waterford for the four-day festival. Organisers estimate that over 250,000 people could visit the city, giving the local economy a financial injection of up to €30 million. An estimated 25,000 people lined the quays yesterday afternoon to see the mayor of Waterford, Hilary Quinlan, launch Tall Ships 2005.
Welcoming the event to the city, Cllr Quinlan paid tribute to Waterford City Council and the Port of Waterford for lobbying for the event, and he thanked organisers, Sail Training International for choosing Waterford as a starting point for the race.
Tall Ships' Races (Europe) Ltd chairman, Jostein Havkali said that Waterford was one of two new ports on this year's route. He also paid tribute to local organisers for providing excellent berthing facilities, services and tourist attractions for the crews.
Waterford Tall Ships' committee chairman, Nicky Fewer, said securing the event for Waterford was the culmination of six years' hard work and he paid tribute to the public and private sectors for their support.
The event - which has the backing of Fáilte Ireland, Waterford City Council, Port of Waterford, Waterford Crystal and other local businesses - has had a budget of €1.9 million, with preparatory work having started in 2001.
Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen hailed the Tall Ships as "a fantastic time for Waterford and the South East" and said how appropriate it was that Waterford's rich maritime tradition was being recognised by such a major international sailing event.
Down the quays, the people of Waterford were embracing the event, with thousands queuing up at the many gangplanks to visit the fleet of sailing ships lining both the north and south quays of the River Suir.
Among those admiring the flotilla were Sr Veronica and Sr Scholastique of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Manor Hill who had been bringing some of the patients at their nursing home to see the ships.
"It's very impressive," said Sr Veronica. "Almost everyone we've brought down has been hugely taken by the ships, particularly all the men. I expect the atmosphere will get better later on in the day and tonight."
This year's event has attracted one of the largest-ever number of Class A ships - those over 40m long - and among the 28 Class A vessels, the US Eagle and the Russian Kruzenshtern were drawing huge crowds on the north quay.
Across the Suir, the Jubilee Sailing Trust's Tenacious from Britain was proving very popular, as crew member Mike Van Baaren admitted.
To underline the popularity he tried to hang up a banner showing the ship being commemorated on a special An Post stamp to mark the visit.
The Tenacious has facilities for both able-bodied and disabled crew, and among the 40-strong complement - who joined the 10 permanent crew in sailing her from Portsmouth to Waterford - were eight visually impaired sailors from Cork.
"It was great," said Anne Marie Hennessy of the National Council for the Blind.
"We have people who are just trying to come to get their independence back and in a couple of cases the whole experience here has given them the boost they needed."
