Tall Ships 2015 To Celebrate Rebuilt Vessel That Brought Lafayette to America

The Tall Ships could be headed back to Greenport in 2015 — with a piece of history coming to life in local waters.

At September's Greenport village board work session, Mayor David Nyce said he'd had a conversation with a representative of the Tall Ships America 2015 program.

The focus of that year's Tall Ships event, Nyce said, would be the maiden voyage of the Hermione, the rebuilt vessel that brought the French general Marquis de Lafayette to the United States during the Revolutionary period.

The frigate, Nyce said, will be sailing from France to New York and traveling up and down the East Coast, with an event scheduled to showcase a series of Tall Ships, much like the 2012 Tall Ships America event.

For a history of the Hermione and the group restoring the vessel, click here.

What's different this time, Nyce said, is that for the last event, host ports sent out over 100 letters to the ships; this time, Tall Ships America has asked host ports to put in a proposal, which will outline the costs of ships coming for the event, with all the detail in one package.

Due to the large amount of press the Hermione's voyage is expected to generate worldwide, Nyce predicted, "Greenport should be able to capitalize on this, with people coming from around the whole tri-state area."

In addition, the event would be held over the three-day July 4 weekend, Nyce said.

"Tall Ships America wants us to participate," the mayor said; the group was looking for an "okay" to put in a proposal for the village board to review. 

"This is not tying us to any specific ships," he added, just indicating the village's interest in participating in the event.

Nyce said his hope is that by 2015, sponsorship dollars should be easier to find than in the past.

During the last Tall Ships event, "The idea of selling tickets was the reason we were able to have a successful event. I suggest we use that model," Nyce said.

The board agreed to review the proposal and discussed creating a steering committee for the event.

At the village board meeting, one resident asked if the village was committed to the expense in the proposal phase.

Nyce said the village was just responding to a request for proposals from Tall Ships America and the company organizing the Hermione's voyage, and would still need to vote to authorize any further action.