Tall ships Fryderyk Chopin and Brabander sailing in the Sound

Last night it was nice to watch two tall ships, the Polish brig Fryderyk Chopin and the Lithuanian schooner Brabander, sailing in the Sound. Both ships were heading north toward Aarhus, where the Tall Ship Races are due to begin today.

The 55 m x 8.5 m Fryderyk Chopin has since it was launched in 1992 been one of  the regulars at the Tall Ships Races.

At Helsingør the Fryderyk Chopin "raced" with this small cargo ship.

A minute or two later, it was clear which one was the "winner" ....

With (almost) full sails towards Aarhus ....

The Lithuanian schooner Brabander approaching Helsingør. It looks like it would be  squeezed  between two of the Scandlines ferries, but luckily the ship was still a little bit further away ....

The Brabander passing Hamlet's Kronborg castle.

The Klaipeda University acquired Brabander from its Dutch owner in 2006. The ship , which now serves as a training and research vessel, was built in 1977. 

Five NATO navy ships in Øresund

The small NATO flotilla on its way northwards in the Sound

Last night a small "Baltic" navy flotilla made its way northwards through the Øresund. The ship crews from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania must have enjoyed the beauty of the Nordic summer evening ...

The modernised Sandown-class minehunter EML Admiral Cowan (M313) was the first ship in the flotilla. She used to serve as the former HMS Sandown lead ship of her class of the Royal Navy. The ship is now part of the Estonian Navy. 

This is the Latvian Naval Forces´ VIDAR class minelayer Virsaitis (A53). The ship, which was built in 1978 for the Royal Norwegian Navy, was previously called Vale. 

The LKL Sūduvis (M52) is a minehunter of the Lithuanian Naval Force. It was built already in 1957 as Koblenz (M1701), a Lindau-class minesweeper for the German Navy. Germany donated the minehunter to Lithuania in 1999. 

This is the Latvian Storm-class Fast Patrol Boat LVNS Lode (P02). Originally she was one of the 20 Storm-class vessels built for the Royal Norwegian Navy. In 1995 Norway donated three of these boats to Latvia. 

The Lithuanian patrol boat Dzukas (P12) is the former Royal Danish Navy Flyvefisken class multirole vessel Hajen. The Hajen and her sister ship Lommen were delivered to the Lithuanian Navy in 2010.