It’s Fleet Week in New York ladies, but Marines aren’t the only eye candy landing in NY this week as 27 Tall Ships sail into the Harbour for OpSail 2012. Since the event is not well known and only comes around once every few years we took the liberty to answer some of your recent questions on the biggest nautical event of the year:

Tall Ships huh? Let me guess.. That just means there are some really tall ships coming into town huh?
Ok smarty pants, yes, they are sizably tall, but by definition a Tall ship is any ship that is traditionally rigged (with masts, yards, sails, etc.). Let’s just say if it looks old and resembles a ship you saw in Pirates of the Caribbean, it’s safe to say you are probably looking at a tall ship.

I love Pirates of the Caribbean! Where can I see some of these pirate ships?
Well hold on, we didn’t say Pirate Ships, but we like your enthusiasm. You can even go around asking people if they are “savvy.” We won’t judge. The ships sail in tomorrow along the Hudson then dock in Red Hook for the rest of the weekend. Full schedule

Ok I’m in. Now why have I never heard of this before?
This year marks the 200th anniversairy of the War of 1812 and the ships are coming in to New York to celebrate the bicentennial of the war. OpSail usually sails whenever we are celebrating an American landmark historical event with the last event in 2000 celebrating the coming of the new millennium. But let’s be real, who doesn’t want to see 27 bad a**, 100 year old ships float down the river?

Now give me something to impress my girlfriend so she stops staring at the Marines.
Ever hear of the song called the Star Spangled Banner? It was written by Francis Scott Key after witnessing a Battle in the Chesapeak Bay during the War of 1812. It was his view of Tall Ships attacking Fort McHenry that inspired him to write the poem that turned into our national anthem.

Sail Away!