Tall Ships leave Boston Harbor
Associated Press, 07/16/00
BOSTON - With naval salutes from the U.S.S. Constitution, the Tall Ships left Boston Harbor Sunday after an 11-day visit, many of them en route to rejoin a trans-Atlantic race to Nova Scotia and then Amsterdam.
An Argentine vessel led the procession of 146 ships. Each ship saluted the Constitution either by firing cannons or dipping sails, and the U.S. vessel responded in kind.
The ships, which came from 35 countries, were berthed and open to the public for free at various points around the harbor. An estimated 7.5 million people viewed the ships during their stay, organizers said Sunday.
On Sunday, public officials, Navy officers and other spectators were to watch the grand exit procession from the deck of the mammoth aircraft carrier U.S.S. John F. Kennedy.
The Kennedy - which carries more than 3,000 sailors and 85 aircraft, and has a 4.65 acre deck - has been deployed 16 times in the Mediterranean and the Middle East and was last in Boston in 1990.
The Tall Ships event, known as Sail Boston 2000, was projected by the Greater Boston Convention Visitors Bureau to bring some $120 million to the area's economy.
