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Beauty Pageant of the Sea: Parade of ‘tall ships’ coming to Quebec City

The Italian tall ship Amerigo Vespucci, a three-masted frigate, is just one of dozens of majestic ships that will be sailing North Atlantic waters this summer, visiting ports along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City in July. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
The Italian tall ship Amerigo Vespucci, a three-masted frigate, is just one of dozens of majestic ships that will be sailing North Atlantic waters this summer, visiting ports along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City in July. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

By Calvin Woodward, Associated Press 4 min read

photo A schooner sails against the backdrop of Quebec City and the iconic Chateau Frontenac.

As the story goes, the training ship Amerigo Vespucci was sailing the Mediterranean in 1962 when the U.S. aircraft carrier Independence spotted it and radioed: “Who are you?”

Came the reply: “School ship Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian Navy.”

The Independence answered: “You are the most beautiful ship in the world.”

Tall ships sometimes come with tall tales, and whether that one is true may be lost to history. What’s not in dispute is that the venerable three-masted frigate is a handsome piece of work and just one of dozens of majestic ships that will be sailing North Atlantic waters this summer, visiting ports along the St. Lawrence River for weeks and gathering en masse in Quebec City July 18-23.

It’s a beauty pageant from the age of sail, a spectacle that brings to mind the parade of “cathedrals of the sea” in New York harbor for America’s bicentennial in 1976.