Kaliakra (Tall ship)

The Sail Training Vessel Kaliakra (Known also as STV Kaliakra, Bulgarian language: "Калиакра") is a barquentine, built in 1984 at the Gdańsk Shipyard, after the plans of the Polish technical designer Zygmunt Chore. She is a property of Bulgarian Maritime Training Centre and is operated by Navigation Maritime Bulgare, Bulgaria. The ship is stationed in Port Varna, Bulgaria.

The ship

The general perception is that Kaliakra is a reproduction of a ship of the same name from the time before World War I. In fact, she is one of three ultra-modern sister ships designed for training, the other two being STS Pogoria and ORP Iskra. Now she is used for training the Naval Cadets from Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy in Varna, Bulgaria.

The ship is one of the fastest tall ships in the world with a proven record of performance. She has participated on relatively regular basis in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships regatta, organized by the Sail Training International (STI) Association. During the Columbus Race in 1992, dedicated to the 500 years jubilee of the discovery of America, Kaliakra sailed the Atlantic Ocean twice and finished third out of 143 ships.

Onboard Kaliakra have been King Juan Carlos of Spain, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and many other distinguished personalities.

Sail Training journeys are performed, as well as tourist cruises.

Additional specifications

The hull and the superstructure are made of steel; the masts are partly made of steel and partly of fabric.

Area of main sails: 816 m²
Area of square sails: 264 m²
Total area of the sails: 1080 m²
Main and foremast height: 30.6 m
Mizzen-mast: 26.6 m
Fresh water capacity: 36 t metric
Diesel capacity: 27 t metric
Accommodation: 4 cabins with 2 hammocks each, 1 cabin with 6 hammocks, 1 cabin with 9 hammocks and 1 cabin with 11 hammocks for trainees.

Races and awards

*1986 Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race Ranked first in both competition races and third in corrected time
*1987 Cutty Sark '87 - Baltic Race
*1988 Cutty Sark '88 - Baltic Race
*1989 Sail Training Association of The Netherlands (STAN)
*1990 Cutty Sark Training Ships Race '90
*1992 Grand Regatta Columbus '92
*1996 Cutty Sark '96 Mediterranean Race Won the silver cup and plaque for 1^st position in Class A
*1997 Cutty Sark '97
*1998 Cutty Sark '98 Tall Ships Races Loyalty Prize
*2000 Tall Ships '00 Won the first race leg from Genova to Cadiz
*2001 Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race '01 Peter and Simon Crouter Memorial Trophy
*2002 Cutty Sark Tall Ships '02 The Greville Howard Memorial Shield
*2005 The Tall Ships Races '05
*2006 The 50^th Anniversary Tall Ships Races '06
*2007 The Tall Ships' Races Mediterranean '07

Trivia

*The ship is named after the legend of the girl Kaliakra, which shall have jumped together with 40 friends from the rocks of the cape of Kaliakra down on the riffs for she preferred death instesd of live in a Turkish harem.
*In 1996 a coin of 1 000 leva denomination that featured the ship on its tail was issued.

ee also

* Cape Kaliakra

External links

* http://www.navbul.com/kali/mainkali.html