The 200-foot SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, this country’s newest Tall Ship and one of only 75 Tall Ships in the world designated by Sail Training International as Class A, will be dockside on Perry Mill Wharf (across from the Red Parrot Restaurant) during the Newport International Boat Show (September 17-20).
The Oliver Hazzard Perry is the largest privately-funded, actively sailing civilian Tall Ship in the U.S., the Perry also is Rhode Island’s Official Sailing Education Vessel.
Although above decks SSV Oliver Hazard Perry looks like a historical ship, she is in fact a brand new technologically sophisticated steel-hulled 21st Century ship. Her rig towers 13 ½ stories high; her 19 spars have been turned from massive Douglas fir trees on the largest spar lathe in North America; and her seven miles of rope and wire have been made integral to the ship’s operation by tradesmen trained in both modern and traditional rigging techniques. Below decks is a modern galley and Great Cabin (where captains, in days of yore, entertained); high-end navigation and communication systems; a state-of-the-art science lab, and classroom spaces outfitted with monitors displaying real-time navigation and meteorological data; laptop computers; and interactive SMART boards.