Harlingen Sail announces the first ships coming to Harlingen during the Tall Ships Races. From 3 to 6 July 2026, many giant international tall ships will come to the Frisian port city. One of the most striking ships to be there in 2026 is the Sørlandet from Norway. This A-class sailing ship was not in the previous edition of the Tall Ships Races Harlingen. Sørlandet is one of the few still fully rigged tall ships in the world, making it a real eye-catcher. The Kapitan Glowacki from Poland is also a real crowd-puller. This brigantine is somewhat smaller, but very special. She was built in 1944 as a semi-military ship.
Besides the Sorlandet and Kapitan Glowacki, the Polish tall ships Pogoria and Fryderyk Chopin and the Dutch tall ships Thalassa, Gulden Leeuw and the Wylde Swan from the A-class are also coming to Harlingen. This is the category that includes the largest tall ships. Slightly smaller in size but certainly no less beautiful are the Brabander from Lithuania, Valborg from Finland and Excelsior from England. 'We are delighted that these ships have already confirmed that they will come to Harlingen during the Tall Ships Races. But there are many more gems in the pipeline,' says Lieuwe Krol, director of Harlingen Sail.
Trainees
On all tall ships, trainees sail on board. Young people aged between 15 and 25 can apply to sail on one of the tall ships from Aarhus to Harlingen. About 250 young people can participate in total. We think it is important that everyone can participate, regardless of knowledge, experience or background. It does not matter whether a young person has sailing experience or not, what the financial possibilities of the young people or parents are, or whether someone has mental or physical disabilities,' Krol said. 'We help young people get the trip of a lifetime done. In the run-up to the trip, for example, we organise a special training programme in which the young people learn how to raise the entry fee themselves. Trainees who want to participate in this training programme, we urge them to register as soon as possible, but no later than 1 January.'
