About the Society

The Victoria Tall Ships® Society is a non-profit organization established in May 2003 for the purpose of hosting the (ASTA) Tall Ships Challenge® Race during its 2005 visit of west coast ports. The Society is now busy planning for the return of the Tall Ships® in June 2008.

As part of its mandate, the Society wishes to make Victoria a permanent host port for the tall ships® during each of their tri-annual visits to the region. It seeks also to enhance the awareness of the rich maritime history of this city and the strong links which British Columbia has with the sea. A key constitutional objective of the society is provide youth with life affirming experiences while sailing in traditionally rigged vessels.

To manage its day-to-day affairs and to achieve its goals, the Victoria Tall Ships® Society relies almost entirely on volunteers. The current board of directors brings an accumulated 325 years of maritime experience and over 100 years of event organizing, marketing and fund-raising experience to their responsibilities. The 15 men and women of the board come from marine, political, business, communications and military backgrounds.

The Chair is Bob Cross, a local businessman and former Mayor of Victoria.