For your chance to sail a tall ship, head for Barrow-in-Furness during three-day International Power & Glory Tall Ships – Barrow 2004 event in June. Among the armada of beautifully crafted tall ships and sailing yachts descending on the South Cumbrian port of Barrow-in-Furness on 11 June will be Artimes the three-masted barque, former whaling ship, and Mir the Polish-built tall ship Mir.

In its days as a whaling ship, with her two auxiliary masts and various harpoon guns, Artimes mainly navigated the Arctic Ocean returning her haul to Oslo, her home port. At the end of her life as a whaling ship, Artimes was converted into a freighter for a new life sailing between Asia and South America. She is now equipped to take 120 guests.

The Mir stands at 109m loa and was built in Poland for use as a Russian training vessel. She was based in the port of Leningrad and owned by the Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy (SMA) and at different times carried between 70 and 140 cadets from the SMA and other marine educational institutions from around the world. Not only a training vessel, ‘Mir’ competes in Tall Ships races across the globe, her greatest triumph was in 1992 when she was the winner of the Grand regatta Columbus, a race dedicated to the quincentennial anniversary of the discovery of America.

During the event there will be an opportunity to not only board these two ships for a guided tour but to take part in the daily sailing excursions and overnight voyages.

For more information and details of how to purchase tickets log on to www.historicalships.com.