British and French Tall Ships bring new "Entente Cordiale" to Portsmouth

British tall ship, Prince William, owned by the Portsmouth based Tall Ships Youth Trust, ties up alongside its French counterpart, Recouvrance, at Gunwharf Quays on today when both crews will be shown over the other's ship.

Recouvrance is visiting Portsmouth from Brest to highlight the International Maritime Festival taking place there in July 2008. On board will be the Mayor of Brest, M. François Cuillandre and the President of Brittany Ferries, Jean-Marc Roué, who will be signing a sponsorship agreement for Brest 2008. Also in attendance will be Cllr Terry Hall, Executive Member for Culture and Leisure. This venue has been chosen because both Brest and Portsmouth are celebrated ports with a proud nautical history. Portsmouth is Brittany Ferries' most important UK port and Brest is, of course, located in its home region of Brittany.

Prince William is returning to Portsmouth after a 2,500 nautical mile Trans-Atlantic voyage with a young crew aged 16-25 from across Hampshire and the UK. They left Halifax, Canada, on Monday 16 July for a 26 day crossing, having faced strong squalls and storms off the notorious Grand Banks. Prince William has spent the summer participating in the Atlantic Challenge Tall Ships Races off the east coast of America, winning first place in the leg from Newport, Rhode Island, to Cape Cod.

Jean-Marc Roué, Brittany Ferries' President commented: "As one of France's major maritime fleets, we are proud of our links with all things nautical and are delighted to be associated with this major festival in Brest which will be attended by huge numbers of sailors from the UK, many of whom we expect to come from the Portsmouth area."

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For further press information and pictures contact:
Stephen Tuckwell at the Brittany Ferries Press Office
Tel: 08709 010 215
Email: pressoffice@brittanyferries.com

Released 9 August 2007