On May 29, the final sitting of the Organizational Committee for the preparation and organization of the international regatta of the ‘The tall ships’ races Baltic - 2009’ in Saint Petersburg took place. It was headed by the Chairman of the transport-transit policy Committee Nikolay Asaul. It was concluded at the sitting that Saint Petersburg was brilliantly prepared for the regatta.

The departments that were responsible for the shore stage of the regatta were present at the sitting. The representers of the non-commercial organization Sail Training International, who were involved in the organization of the regatta also took part in the sitting.

The director of the race and the representer of the management team of the Sail Training International, Peter Newell noted: ‘Our regatta took place in Saint Petersburg in 1996, it is now time to come back. We have very pleasant memories from those times, and we were delighted to include Saint Petersburg as a member of the Tall Ships Races 2009. The participants of the regatta were very enthusiastic about this decision. This year 120 ships will take part at the race’.

The leadership team of the regatta highly appreciated what has been done by the Port Committee of Saint Petersburg, especially considering the large scale of the project. Special attention was paid to the training of the youth, who took part in the regatta

It was suggested, by the leadership team, to present a program for the preparation of volunteers at the STI World Conference, which is going to take place in Istanbul at the end of 2009. This program could serve as an example for other ports,which take place in the regatta.

According to Zlata Bredova, the manager of the selection training program for the Saint Petersburg youth for the participation in ‘The Tall Ships Races’, the preparation for the regatta and activities on the shore is on schedule. Selection of the Russian crews is almost finished.
Vladimir Kuchinsky, the coordinator of the Port Committee states: ‘We have done a lot, and we are hoping to realize everything that we had in mind. The local government of Saint Petersburg, sponsors are actively helping us, and we cannot thank them enough for this!’

The cities that take part in the final round of the regatta are selected in a tough selection 3 to 4 years before the actual event. Saint Petersburg succeeded in this selection. Peter Newell notes: ‘We were able to receive great support from the mayor and the city authorities’. This, of course, guarantees a high level of preparation. We are impressed by the amount of work, which was done by the Organizational Committee. It is important that Saint Petersburg follows the main idea of the regatta - to attract young people, who have nothing to do with sailing, to take part in the race. We are very impressed by the training of the youth before the race. In this sense, Saint Petersburg stands out among other participants of the regatta; this is why we would like to ask the members of the Committee to participate at the annual World Conference Sailing Training International, in order to share their experience with other city-participants.