Expatica news

SAIL news, 18 August 2005

First day attracts 300,000

The police said there were no major problems as an estimated 300,000 visitors attended the first day of the Tall Ships and maritime festival SAIL Amsterdam on Wednesday. The organisers expect a total of 2.5 million visitors over the six-day event. The last SAIL in 2000 attracted 850,000 people in the opening day.  

Viewing the ships

Tall Ships and Replicas moored along the docks in Amsterdam can be visited by the public from 10am to 4pm from Thursday. In addition, three naval ships are open to the public at Java Island from 9am to 6pm until 21 August. They are the amphibious carrier Hr. Ms. Rotterdam, the air-defence and command frigate Hr. Ms. De Ruyter, and the submarine Hr. Ms. Zeeleeuw.  A village will be erected on the shore in front of the Hr. Ms. Rotterdam to give visitors a complete picture of the navy.

Rowing-boat race through centre

The second day of SAIL 2005 features rowing-boat racing through the canals in the centre of Amsterdam. The participants in this good-natured event use the colourfully-decorated homemade pieremachochel boat, described by the organisers as “a rather unwieldy rowboat of an obscure sort, a kind of bastard boat, that is very shaky”. A panel of experts will judge the ships on originality and “pieremachochel-ness”. Music will be provided by orchestras and bands accompanying the procession. The race begins at 2pm and finishes at 6pm.

Ten people injured in collision

Ten people have been injured in a collision between two vessels in the North Sea canal. A 40-metre long chartered passenger vessel collided with a canal boat which was filled with coal on Wednesday night near the Mercurius harbour. The Water police arrived on the scene within minutes and the injured people were brought by boat to the quayside. Four of casualties were then taken to hospital. Both the vessels involved in the accident remained afloat. The authorities have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2005]

Subject: Dutch news + SAIL 2005