Tall Ships Erie is scheduled for August 2025
The captain of the tall ship Appledore IV, Matt Gibas, on the hard work of sailing
Matt Gibas, captain of Appledore IV, a Michigan-based schooner participating in Tall Ships Erie 2022, talks about life aboard a ship and his lucky charm.
AJ Rao, Erie Times-News
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission said planned repairs would likely prevent the state flagship Niagara from participating in the Tall Ships Erie event in 2025.
This may come as a disappointment to fans of the Niagara, a reconstruction of Oliver Hazard Perry’s auxiliary flagship during the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813.
However, that doesn’t mean that tall ships from all over the world won’t be sailing into Presque Isle Bay next summer.
Billy Sabatini, executive director of the Flagship Niagara League, which sailed and maintained the Niagara from 2010 through the end of 2023, said an official announcement will be made later this year.
But Sabatini has confirmed that the Flagship Niagara League, sailing the fishing schooner Lettie G. Howard, plans to host Tall Ships Erie in August 2025.
Erin Short, events and communications director at Tall Ships America, said in an Aug. 22 email, “We are currently exploring the idea of bringing the tall ships back to Erie in 2025.”
In a follow-up email on Tuesday, she wrote: “We will not announce anything until the port is ready, so any updates will come from Captain Sabatini and his team, not us.”
“It doesn’t really matter who from Erie is behind it”
For the purposes of the festival, it doesn’t matter that the Flagship Niagara League no longer has a formal connection to Niagara, Sabatini said.
In the past, he said, Tall Ships Erie was always hosted by the Flagship Niagara League, not PHMC.
“In cities across the country that host tall ship events, there are a variety of sponsors,” Sabatini said. “Sometimes it’s a nonprofit organization. Sometimes it’s an LLC or a corporation formed to put on the event. It doesn’t matter who from Erie is behind it. What really matters is that we maintain one of the most important events we host as a community.”
Jay Losiewicz, a spokesman for the PHMC, said the organization, which has traditionally opened the doors of the Erie Maritime Museum for the event, will play a role in the festival.
Structural change raises doubts
PHMC, which also operates the Erie Maritime Museum, announced in December that it would resume operations of both the museum and the sailing program, relieving the Flagship Niagara League of those duties. This change left some uncertain whether Erie would continue to host a Tall Ships Festival. The last event was held in Erie in August 2022.
Cal Pifer, executive director of the Hagen History Center, who was appointed to the PHMC by Gov. Josh Shapiro in August, said he is pleased with the progress of the plans.
“I think overall it would be a disappointment to our community if we didn’t hold it,” Pifer said. “We’re one of the few communities on the Great Lakes that has a Tall Ships Festival. If we couldn’t have a Tall Ships (Festival) in 2025, I think that would reflect poorly on Erie.”
Pifer said he has complete confidence in Sabatini and the Flagship Niagara League to continue running the festival as they have since 2010.
It was no coincidence, he said, that Sabatini was named Sailing Coach of the Year and Erie was named Port of the Year at the Tall Ships America Conference in Newport, Rhode Island, in February 2023. These awards are based on the votes of visiting ships and their crews.
Sabatini said the emphasis on sailing training is one of the things that sets Erie apart from other tall ship events.
The number of visits from outside the city increased in 2022
John Oliver, CEO of VisitErie, Erie County’s tourism promotion agency, said the Niagara will be missed if it is not ready to sail for Tall Ships Erie.
Niagara is scheduled to visit two shipyards over the next year. The ship’s engines and propellers are expected to be upgraded at a shipyard in Cleveland. Niagara’s second stop is for structural repairs.
Although the Niagara’s absence may be a concern for local residents, “I think you can run a very successful tall ship operation without her,” Oliver said.
“It’s an event that attracts more than just locals,” he said. “We’re very excited about it and look forward to starting planning soon.”
More: 36 years after work began on rebuilding the brig Niagara, the state’s flagship is in need of repair
VisitErie reported in 2022 that the number of visitors traveling more than 30 miles to visit Erie County during the Tall Ships Festival increased 41% compared to the 2019 event data.
More: Former deckhand of flagship Niagara returns as captain
Sabatini hopes for even better results next year.
“I think more lead time will make a big difference,” he said. “We only announced Tall Ships 2022 at the end of March. Just the fact that we have enough time for the planning process will make a difference.”
Contact Jim Martin at [email protected].
