From 15 to 18 September 2016, a number of Tall Ships will return to London to take part in cruises on the river Thames. These cruises will take you from the Greenwich Heritage Centre and Woolwich Royal Arsenal Pier past many of the historic landmarks on the Thames up to Tower Bridge. There will be day trips and night cruises which end with fireworks displays.

West India Dock has regular visits from Tall Ships, however the sight of Tall ships going around the Island up to the centre of London is a great spectacle and is enjoyed by many. This year there will be nine or ten tall ships taking part including Gallant, Iris, J.R. Tolkien, Jantje, Mercedes, Morgenster, Oosterscheld, Thalassa and Zephyr. Many of the ships will be familiar to regular Thames watchers having taken part in many events before.

It has been a couple of years since the spectacular Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Regatta Parade of Sail but there is news that a large number of Tall Ships will be in Greenwich over the 2017 Easter Weekend for the start of Transatlantic Tall Ship Regatta.

The Regatta will start from Greenwich in April 2017 calling at Sines, Portugal before crossing the Atlantic to the USA, various ports in Canada and the Gulf of St Lawrence before reached Quebec City in July; the fleet will return to Europe in early September 2017.

It is expected that from 13 to 16 April 2017, ships will be anchored at two festival sites in Greenwich and the Royal Arsenal Riverside in Woolwich. The finale of the festival will be a huge Parade of Sail on 16 April, when around 40 tall ships will sail down the Thames.

As a reminder of what the Thames looks like when full of Tall Ships, I have included some photos from the 2014 Parade of Sail.

For more information about Sail Greenwich 2016, visit their website here