#TallShipTours – As a reminder the German Navy three-masted barque Gorch Fock, which is currently on a visit of Dublin since arriving last week, will be open to public tours next Sunday (13th September), writes Jehan Ashmore.

In addition the 1958 built tallship which is berthed at Sir John Rogersons Quay will also be open again for the public on the following Sunday (20th September).

Tour times for both of the “Open Ship” days are between 2-5pm, where her crew will welcome you on board her timber decks.

So why not make a visit (free of charge and no registration) on board the sail training ship that has toured the world 168 times.

The primary mission of the Gorch Fock is to provide basic nautical training for officer and non-commissioned officer candidates of the German Navy combining theoretical and practical aspects.

The focus is on the training of the officer candidates, the so-called cadets who climb the rigging in which the masts tower just over 45 metres above the sea.

On board the tall ship, the cadets get their sea legs. They are to experience first hand what it means to work as a team at sea, "to pull together" and "to be in the same boat".

On a sail training ship, this is easily put into practice as the main means of propulsion, the rigging, is operated by muscle power only.

Gorch Foch is to remain in port until the 21st September when she sets sails to Funchal, Portugal. After this first port of call on the Iberian Peninsula, she heads to Cadiz in neighbouring Spain.

She then returns across the Bay of Biscay with the final leg to take place in November from Dartmouth back to the German port of Wilhelmshaven.