III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 158 

To commend the American Sail Training Association for advancing 

international goodwill and character building under sail. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2009 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

To commend the American Sail Training Association for 

advancing international goodwill and character building 

under sail. 

Whereas the American Sail Training Association (ASTA) is 

an educational nonprofit corporation whose declared mission is ‘‘to encourage character building through sail 

training, promote sail training to the North American 

public and support education under sail’’; 

Whereas, since its founding in 1973, ASTA has supported 

character-building experiences aboard traditionally rigged 

sail training vessels and has established a program of 

scholarship funds to support such experiences; 

Whereas ASTA has a long history of tall ship races, rallies, 

and maritime festivals, dating back as far as 1976; 


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•SRES 158 IS 

Whereas, each year since 2001, ASTA has held the ‘‘Tall 

Ships Challenge’’, a series of races and maritime festivals 

that involve sail training vessels, trainees, and crews from 

all the coasts of the United States and around the world; 

Whereas the Tall Ships Challenge series has reached an audience of approximately 8,000,000 spectators and brought 

more than $400,000,000 to more than 30 host communities; 

Whereas ASTA supports a membership of more than 200 sail 

training vessels, including barks, barques, barkentines, 

brigantines, brigs, schooners, sloops, and full-rigged 

ships, which carry the flags of the United States, Canada, and many other nations and have brought lifechanging adventures to thousands of young trainees; 

Whereas ASTA has held a series of more than 30 annual sail 

training conferences in cities throughout the United 

States and Canada, including the Safety Under Sail 

Forum and the Education Under Sail Forum; 

Whereas ASTA has collaborated extensively with the Coast 

Guard and with the premier sail training vessel of the 

United States, the square-rigged barque USCGC Eagle; 

Whereas ASTA publishes ‘‘Sail Tall Ships’’, a periodic directory of sail training opportunities; 

Whereas, in 1982, ASTA supported the enactment of the 

Sailing School Vessel Act of 1982, title II of Public Law 

97–322 (96 Stat. 1588); 

Whereas ASTA has ably represented the United States as a 

founding member of the national sail training organization in Sail Training International, the recognized international body for the promotion of sail training, which 

has hosted a series of international races of square-rigged 


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•SRES 158 IS 

and other traditionally rigged vessels since the 1950s; 

and 

Whereas ASTA and Sail Training International are collaborating with port partners around the Atlantic Ocean to 

produce the ‘‘Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009’’, in 

which an international fleet of sail training vessels will 

sail from Europe to North America and return to Europe: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) commends the American Sail Training As3 sociation for advancing character building experi4 ences for youth at sea in traditionally rigged sailing 

5 vessels and the finest traditions of the sea; 

6 (2) commends the American Sail Training As7 sociation for acting as the national sail training as8 sociation of the United States and representing the 

9 sail training community of the United States in the 

10 international forum; and 

11 (3) encourages all people of the United States 

12 and the world to join in the celebration of the ‘‘Tall 

13 Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009’’ and in the char14 acter-building and educational experience that it rep15 resents for the youth of all nations. 

Æ 


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