The Royaliste
Tallship Royaliste is a living history interpretation/reenactment vessel first and foremost. She is a 71' LOA gaff-rigged, square-tops'l ketch refit to specifications of an 18th-century dispatch gunboat/bomb ketch. We emphasize period sail-training, mock battle sails, and historic dockside tours complete with an extensive, 'floating artifact museum', with an emphasis on privateering, trade, whaling, and of course, piracy!
Western Campaign: Royaliste culminated her 3 year Western Campaign in the San Francisco Bay Area, when she sailed south with the ASTA 2005 Tall Ships Challenge. After a very enriching 2005 season, we have decided to actively campaign the ship throughout North America and the Carribean. Beginning in May, we will decommission the ship in the Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard California, and ship her in pieces to Lake Erie in preparation for the 2006 ASTA events on the Great Lakes.
Eastern Campaign: The Royaliste had a long and successful Eastern Campaign under owner Vernon Fairhead: From 1992-2002 she represented the Canadian War Museum, under contract to the Canadian Navy to act as an historical representation craft. As an historic vessel she participated in many naval-battle reenactments, including a voyage to Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, in 1995. During Captain Fairhead's ownership Royaliste was also used in historical documentary films shown on the Discovery and History channels.
During the summer of 1997, Royaliste sailed Lake Champlain, where she engaged in a re-enactment of the famous battle at Fort Ticonderoga.
Ensigns: She has flown the colors of 3 nations: France during the French Indian War, Britain at the start of the Revolutionary War and the United States during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
For special events the Royaliste also travels overland on short notice.
