Unique Vessel

The Perfect Ship for Worldwide Adventures under Sail

We are very pleased to introduce Pelican as our latest sailing partner.  A great deal of thought and brave design has gone into her conversion from Arctic fishing boat (with a perfect hull shape for a lofty tall ship) to a fully coded worldwide sailing adventure ship.

Classic Sailing knows from many years experience what makes a good tall ship.

Most importantly Pelican of London has -

1 Square sails aloft challenging young and old to climb the rigging and handle the sails.

2 An attitude to the crew that encourages people to join in and feel included in all aspects of sailing the ship.

3 Lots of sailing – commonly tall ships find it hard to sail to windward but Pelican’s unique rig (see below) means she can sail far better to windward and spend more time sailing rather than motoring.

Square Sails

Pelican is a type of tall ship called a “Xebec-poleacre”. The Xebec part means she has special square sails on the main mast and triangular sails on the fore and mizzen (back) mast.  The poleacre bit refers to the main mast which is in one piece; more usual is for a tall ship to have masts in two, three or four parts getting smaller the higher you go.
The joy of the square sails is that people have to go aloft and work on the sails to either let them out, called setting the sail, or to stow or hand the sails, both terms mean to put the sail away. This requires you to climb the rigging and go out on the yards, it is exciting and the very essence of tall ship sailing. (It’s not compulsory, just great fun - safety harnesses are worn when aloft.)

An attitude to the crew

Sailing a tall ship requires lots of people and a large variety of skills. The crew form the least skilled but largest numbers and they do all the sail handling, steering and watch keeping. (Experience is not required) Overseeing operations are volunteers and paid professionals who ensure the safe running of the ship and its crew on a day to day basis. The decisions on what is to be done next and where to go etc are taken by the Captain and senior professional mariners. Everyone has an important role to play and the beauty of Pelican is that nobody including the Captain is remote or isolated. All too often tall ships are run by professional mariners who have little knowledge of tall ships and little inclination to include the crew in what they do.
Pelican’s has been set up from conception to make life on board inclusive for every one. The Crew are the reason the ship was built for and they are the most important aspect of the success of Pelican.

Lots of sailing

Pelican of London is unique in that she is a Xebec – Poleacre tall ship, see link for more info. Sailing to windward, (towards where the wind comes from) is difficult for any sailing vessel and the ability of Pelican to do this better than most tall ships is very important. It means that instead of using the engine there is much more time when she can sail – and that’s what everyone wants!