The Sail Training Vessel Kaliakra (Known also as STV Kaliakra) is a barquentine

Barquentine

A barquentine is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts.-Modern barquentine sailing rig:...

, built in 1984 at the Gdańsk Shipyard

Gdansk Shipyard

Gdańsk Shipyard is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity was founded there in September 1980...

, after the plans of the Polish technical designer Zygmunt Choreń

Zygmunt Choren

Zygmunt Choreń is a Polish naval architect and the proprietor of the naval architectural firm Choreń Design and Consulting. He is a graduate of the Gdańsk University of Technology and the Leningrad Ship-Building Institute....

. She is a property of Bulgarian Maritime Training Centre and is operated by Navigation Maritime Bulgare

Navibulgar

Navibulgar is a Bulgarian shipping company, the largest in the country, with a fleet of 60 vessels: 46 bulk carriers, 9 container vessels, 5 tanker and chemical vessels and 10 combined tonnage vessels....

, Bulgaria. The ship's home port is 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

Pogoria (ship)

STS Pogoria is a Polish barquentine launched in 1980 in Gdynia. She was designed by Zygmunt Choreń.-History:On 7 July 2009, two of the masts on Pogoria broke at welded joints while the ship was en route to St Petersburg, Russia. The 37 youths onboard were airlifted off the ship by two helicopters...

 and ORP Iskra. Now she is used for training the Naval Cadets from Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy

Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy

The Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy is the naval academy of Bulgaria and the most authoritative centre of maritime personnel education in the country. Based in the Black Sea port of Varna...

 in Varna

Varna

Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...

, Bulgaria.

The ship is one of the fastest tall ship

Tall ship

A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall Ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a race or festival....

s in the world with a proven record of performance. She has participated on relatively regular basis in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships regatta

The Tall Ships' Races

The Tall Ships' Races are races for sail training "tall ships" . The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and consists of two racing legs of several hundred nautical miles, and a...

, organized by the Sail Training International

Sail Training International

Sail Training International is an international organisation composed of the national sail training organisations of 29 countries around the world...

 (STI) Association. During the Columbus Race in 1992, dedicated to the 500 years jubilee of the discovery of America

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

, 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

Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway

Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway is the heir apparent to the throne of Norway. On birth he was named Prince Haakon Magnus but it was stressed in the announcement that he would go by the name Haakon. He became Crown Prince Haakon when his father ascended to the crown as Harald V in 1991...

 and many other distinguished personalities.

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

In 1996 a coin of 1000 leva

Bulgarian lev

The lev is the currency of Bulgaria. It is divided in 100 stotinki . In archaic Bulgarian the word "lev" meant "lion".It is speculated that Bulgaria, as a member of the European Union will adopt the Euro in 2015 .- First lev, 1881–1952 :...

 denomination that featured the ship on its tail was issued.

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
  Portsmouth yardstick
  The Portsmouth Yardstick or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a system of handicapping used primarily in small-boat yacht racing.The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the corrected time can be used to compare widely different sailboats on even terms. Portsmouth Numbers are...
  
  
• 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 1st 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 50th Anniversary Tall Ships Races '06
• 2007 The Tall Ships' Races Mediterranean '07
• 2008 The Tall Ships' Races '08 Loyalty Prize Funchal 500 Tall Ships Regata and Festival – Communication and Security Prize
• 2009 The Tall Ship Races '09 – Baltic, Gdynia to Klaipėda
• 2010 Tall Ship Races Garibaldi '10 Communication Prize
• 2010 Tall Ship Historical Seas '10 Third place

External links

• http://kaliakra.bmtc-bg.com/index.php?page=home&lang=en