CURACAO CHRONICLE, WILLEMSTAD reported on 16 July 2018: ‘It was an amazing sight to behold. Early in the morning on July 15, the first tall ship entered the harbor of Curaçao. Spectators were already lined up on both sides of the harbor in the early hours of the morning waiting for the first tall ship. The first one to enter the harbor was the Esmeralda from Chile followed by the Gloria from Colombia. Later in the morning, the three-masted Cuauhtémoc from Mexico sailed in with the crew high in the mast and at the end of the morning, the four-masted Union of Peru arrived. By the evening six out of eight were in the harbor. During the visit of these tall ships, there were activities on both sides of the Saint Anna Bay. The boats were open to the public free of charge for three days. According to Curaçao Sail Foundation, the first and the last day are all about traditional rituals such as salute shots and ‘blessing of the sails’.’
The team of Budget Marine Curacao also came out to enjoy the sights. Roeland van Bijnen, General Manager of Budget Marina Curacao said: ‘Every day during the event we joined the Admiralty sailing together with about eighteen other yachts, it was a fantastic event.’
