On this souvenir sheet issued by Bulgarian, I can not find much information, the ships depict, a square rigger on the stamp and two smaller ships in the margin are all not recognizable and I believe are more imaginative ships of the designer of the sheet.
The Tall Ships' Races are races for sail training "tall ships" (sailing ships). The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The race are held annually in European waters and consists of two racing legs of several hundred nautical miles, and a "cruise in company" between the legs. Over one half (fifty-percent) of the crew of each ship participating in the races must consist of young people.
Between 1973 and 2003 the races were known as The Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races, having been sponsored by Cutty Sark whisky. From 2004 to 2010 the races were supported by The City, Province, and Port of Antwerp. The current sponsor of the Tall Ships' Races 2010–2014 is the city of Szczecin.
The term tall ship came into widespread use in the mid-20th century with the advent of the Tall Ships' Races, and was not generally used in the era when such ships were the norm. The term's popularity may have stemmed from its use in a well-known nautical poem by English Poet Laureate John Masefield entitled "Sea-Fever", first published in 1902.
Participating vessels are manned by a largely cadet or trainee crew who are partaking in sail training, 50 percent of which must be aged between 15–25 years of age and who do not need any previous experience. Thus, tall ship does not describe a specific type of sailing vessel, but rather a monohull sailing vessel of at least 9.4 metres (30 ft) that is conducting sail training and education under sail voyages. Participating ships range from yachts to the large square-rigged sail training ships run by charities, schools and navies of many countries.
The first Tall Ships' race was held in 1956. It was a race of 20 of the world's remaining large sailing ships organized by Bernard Morgan, a London lawyer. The race was from Torquay, Devon to Lisbon, and was meant to be a last farewell to the era of the great sailing ships. Public interest was so intense, however, that race organizers founded the Sail Training International association to direct the planning of future events. Since then Tall Ships' Races have occurred annually in various parts of the world, with millions of spectators. Today, the race attracts more than a hundred ships, among these some of the largest sailing ships in existence. The 50th Anniversary Tall Ships' Races took place during July and August, 2006, and was started by the patron, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who also started the first race in
The 2011 races.
Race One starts in Waterford (Ireland) (Thursday 30 June - Sunday 3 July 2011) to Greenock (Scotland) (Saturday 9 July - Tuesday 12 July).
Cruise in company to Lerwick (Shetland) (Thursday 21 July - Sunday 24 July).
Race Two from Shetland to Stavanger (Norway) (Thursday 28 July - Sun 31 July).
Race Three is from Stavanger to Halmstad (Sweden) (Friday 5 August - Monday 8 August).
The race has being delayed off the coast of Lerwick, Shetlands due to weather conditions. They departed Lerwich at 17:00 on 21 July but they have been delayed at sea until 17.00 on 22 July weather depending.
Bulgaria 2011 1.00 Lev, sg?, scott?
Wikipedia.