SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, Now Officially America’s Newest Sail Training Ship

SSV Oliver Hazard Perry under sail. Photo: Onne van der Wal

The 200-foot tall ship Oliver Hazard Perry is ready to take on its first class of trainees as America’s newest Tall Ship and Rhode Island’s official Sailing Education Vessel.

The tall ship recently completed all the requirements in order to qualify as a Sailing School Vessel under U.S. Coast Guard regulations, leading to a USCG Certificate of Inspection issued in June.

The three-masted, full rigged ship carries 14,000 sq. ft. of sail area and seven miles of running rigging, with her tallest mast soaring 13 ½ stories high.

“We are very pleased with the way the crew has come together and that Oliver Hazard Perry has made it through all the complexities of Coast Guard certification to receive her USCG Certificate of Inspection,” said Captain David Dawes, who joined the ship three months ago. “The ship is performing as expected, and we’re confident we’ll be able to give trainees an excellent experience this summer.”

SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is expected to pick up her first trainees in Boston this weekend for a voyage in and around Narragansett Bay, with possible overnight anchorages in Dutch Harbor, the Sakonnet River, and Block Island.

Although SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is a new 21st Century Tall Ship, the vessel does not lose sight of its historic roots. During cruises, students will work side-by-side with professional crew to learn square-rig seamanship – including bracing the yards, steering the ship and going aloft – on what is the first ocean-going full-rigged ship to be built in America in over a hundred years.

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