Almost a year ago in July 2023 we hosted a talk by Paul Bishop and Stephen Byrne on the possibility of bringing Tall Ships events back to Ramsgate as a way of using Ramsgate’s maritime heritage to boost the visitor economy.

Earlier this year the Ramsgate Society and the Ramsgate Regeneration Alliance jointly commissioned a report on the Feasibility of bringing a Tall Ships Regatta to Ramsgate harbour in May 2026. We received a grant from Ramsgate Town Council, and sponsorship from local resident Graham Burrell and specialist developers Arcvelop Ltd. (Arcvelop will shortly be starting a new development in Albion Place, which has received good design reviews from the Ramsgate Heritage and Design Form – you can read more about them here (Link to https://arcvelop.com )

The feasibility Study has been carried out by Paul Bishop of Tall Ships Global and he will be presenting the results of the study at a Ramsgate Society Talk on Thursday 20th June at 7pm at the San Clu Hotel.

Paul has had a life-long career in sail training and Tall Ships Races. Early on, he was the skipper of the sail training ketch Scott Bader Commonwealth in the 1980s, when he was a frequent visitor to Ramsgate harbour and the Royal Temple Yacht Club!

He went on to have a number of management and leadership roles with sail training organisations and was the Race Director for Sail Training International for 14 years before setting up Tall Ships Global Consultancy Limited in 2020. He has been responsible for over 70 Tall Ships Race host ports all over the world as a Race Director and now uses his extensive experience and specialist knowledge with ports planning to put on Tall Ships events. He is delighted to be involved with the proposed Royal Ramsgate Tall Ships Festival 2026. He was honoured to be awarded an MBE in the 2023 Kings New Year’s Honours list for services to young people through Sail Training.

This opportunity to meet Paul again and to be informed about the next stage takes place on June 20th at the San Clu. As usual doors open at 6:30pm and the talk of about 45 minutes will start at 7pm and be followed by about 15 minutes of Q & A. Places must be booked in advance at £2 (+ 88p for Eventbrite costs). Non-members of the Ramsgate Society will be requested to add a voluntary donation of £3 on the door.

Book here https://bit.ly/TallShipsFeasibilityWeb

or click the ‘Website’ link below