Dear readers,

Which vehicle family made in Germany has been built for half a century, has travelled more distance together than comparable models and is still on the road worldwide today? And all this with an unmistakable exterior? No, we're not talking about the Beetle. We're talking about another legend: the "Gorch Fock".

Or rather: from her family. Because the German sail training ship is anything but alone. There are nine sisters in total. Purists may say there are "only" five, as the four youngest members of the family were added much later. For me, they all belong together.

And anyone who sees them side by side will agree with me: the same elegant lines, identical rigs on top. There are small differences here and there, of course. After all, each of the nine boats has its own personality and history. But their relationship is not only unmistakable. At first glance, they are even confusingly similar.

As a child Windjammer one of the biggest things for me. The annual visit to Hamburg's harbour birthday was therefore always a must: the arrival parade, tugboat ballet, open ship. And of course I knew the "Gorch Fock", or so I thought. When I spotted her at the jetties, I immediately wanted to go on board. And then I was surprised that it said "Mircea" everywhere - it was the Romanian sister ship.

Five of the almost identical barques were launched by Blohm & Voss before the Second World War. With the exception of "Mircea", which was built for the Kingdom of Romania, they were all used as German training ships to supply junior officers. But Hitler's dream of a thousand-year Reich was short-lived. At the end of the war, the robust three-masters were scattered all over the world under new names as reparations.

The type ship, the somewhat smaller first "Gorch Fock", went to the Soviet Union as the "Towarischtsch". The US Coast Guard put the "Eagle" into service and Portugal took a few detours to acquire the "Sagres". The fifth construction number was never completed.

But the story continued: when the newly-launched German Navy decided to train under sail again, the tried-and-tested design was simply relaunched on the Elbe: a new "Gorch Fock" was launched in 1958.

All five sisters competed against each other just once, exactly 50 years ago: The tall ship regatta was part of the celebrations to mark the 200th birthday of the United States. On the course from Bermuda to Newport, the youngest came out on top: the Five Sisters Trophy went to the "Gorch Fock".

It was a trip for the history books. It can no longer be repeated. This is because the oldest ship is now retired. Freshly renovated, she is now a floating museum in Stralsund under her old name "Gorch Fock" (I).

But the trophy still exists, and this summer the four remaining Hamburg sisters will finally compete against each other again. Once again on the other side of the Atlantic, this time on the 250th anniversary of the USA with a race from New York to Boston. Last week, "Gorch Fock" (II) set off from Kiel to defend her title.

Two members of the younger Gorch Fock generation will also be among the other dozens of tall ships in the regatta field: "Guayas" from Ecuador and the Colombian "Gloria". They belong to the Latin American part of the family; four other training ships that were built between 1967 and 1982 in Bilbao, Spain, using the Hamburg original as a model, and are completed by the "Simón Bolivar" from Venezuela and the "Cuauhtémoc" from Mexico.

When the starting signal is given on 8 July in front of the Manhattan skyline, I will be there on the live stream and try to spot one "Gorch Fock" after another in the white sea of the two dozen registered tall ships. What other windjammer can organise its own regatta?

Christian Tiedt

Head of Travel

*** Vote/click to see the result! ***

Recommended reading from the editorial team

• Click here for all previous "YACHT Week" columns