Talls Ships to Visit Panama

Sailing ships from a dozen nations are helping celebrate two hundred years of Latin American independence with an epic voyage. The navies of Chile and Argentina have organized a regatta, “Velas Sud America 2010,” to go with bicentennial independence celebrations in their nations as well as in many other nations of the old Spanish colonial empire. The regatta will pass through the Panama Canal from May 12 to 13.The best ways to see the ships will probably be to go out on your own boat, spend the day at the Miraflores Locks, or spend the day at Gamboa picnicing as the boats pass.

Some of the largest sailing ships in the world, crewed by more than a thousand sailors, sailed from Rio de Janeiro on February 7 and are currently at Callao, Peru. The regatta is sailing to Veracruz, Mexico by way of a passage around Cape Horn and through the Panama Canal. The regatta contains a dozen tall ships and will stop at fourteen ports. The following boats are already on their way to Panama:

Capitan Miranda    Uruguay
Cisne Branco    Brazil/Brasil
Cuauhtémoc    Mexico
Esmeralda    Chile
Europa    Holanda
Gloria    Colombia
Guayas    Ecuador
Juan Sebastián Elcano    Spain/España
Libertad    Argentina
Sagres    Portugal
Simón Bolivar    Venezuela
USCGC Eagle    United States Coast Guard

The ships started in the harbor at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from February 2 to 7 and visited Mar del Plata, Argentina, Montevideo, Uruguay, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Isla de los Estados, Argentina, and Ushuaia, Argentina before rounding Cape Horn.

On the Pacific coast of the Americas the regatta will have visited Punata Arenas, Chile, Valparaíso, Chile, Antofagasta, Chile, Callao, Perú, and Guayaquil, Ecuador before anchoring in the Bay of Panama and transiting the Panama Canal.

After Panama the tall ships will visit Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, La Guaira, Venezuela and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic before ending their 136 day voyage at the port of Veracruz, Mexico from June 23 to 26.

The organizers of this event are the Commander in Chief of Chilean Navy, Admiral Edmund González Robles and Admiral George Omar Godoy of the Argentine navy. Considering the historic role sailing ships played in the Portuguese and Spanish age of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries the organizers of this epic event believed that a voyage of sailing ships was appropriate to the historic occasion of so many bicentennial celebrations from Mexico to Argentina. Their hope, and that of all sailing on this epic voyage, is that everyone who is able will come out to see the great sailing ships on this historic occasion.

The Route

Río de Janeiro (Brazil/Brasil)    02 - 07 February/Febrero
Mar del Plata (Argentina)    22 - 26 February/Febrero
Montevideo (Uruguay)    28 February/Febrero - 02 March/Marzo
Buenos Aires (Argentina)    04 - 09 March/Marzo
Isla de los Estados (Argentina)    18 March/Marzo
Ushuaia (Argentina)    20 - 23 March/Marzo
Cabo de Hornos (Chile)    24 March/Marzo
Punta Arenas (Chile)    27 - 31 March/Marzo
Valparaíso (Chile)    13 - 18 April/Abril
Antofagasta (Chile)    21 - 23 April/Abril
Callao (Perú)    28 April/Abril - 02 May/Mayo
Guayaquil (Ecuador)    07 - 11 May/Mayo
Panamá (Panamá)-canal passage    12 – 13 May/Mayo
Cartagena de Indias (Colombia)    19 - 23 May/Mayo
La Guaira (Venezuela)    29 May - 02 June/Junio
Santo Domingo (Dominican Rep./Rep. Dom.)    06 - 09 June/Junio
Veracruz (México)    23 - 28 June/Junio

For more information about the regatta’s canal passage please contact commodore@panamayachtclub.com, 6616-2408.
For more information about the ships and this epic voyage please visit http://www.velasudamerica2010.com/veleros.php.