Square-rigged ships of Charlestown Harbour, Cornwall

Kaskelot is the flagship of the Square Sail fleet. One of the largest remaining wooden sailing vessels afloat, in her former life Kaskelot was a supply vessel with the Royal Greenland Trading Company and later a fisheries vessel before joining the Square Sail fleet in 1981.

She has been re-rigged into a replica 19th Centuary 3 masted Barque with 9500 square feet of sail. Kaskelot was built in 1948 so she is not the oldest lady on the seas but she is a firm favourite with visitors and has featured in a great many films and television programmes.

Kaskelot's size makes her well suited to corporate events as well as film work, with plenty of space below decks for sets to be constructed or for corporate displays and exhibitions.

Kaskelot's Film credits include:

'Shackleton'
'Last Place on Earth'
'Cutthroat Island'
'Swept from the Sea'
'Return to Treasure Island'
'The Three Musketeers'
'Revolution'
'Longitude'
'David Copperfield'
'A Respectable Trade'

The "middle sized" ship of the Square Sail Fleet, Earl of Pembroke was launched in 1948 from a boatyard in Sweden under the name "Orion". After many years trading in Timber in the Baltic Sea she was laid up in 1974 and purchased by Square Sail in 1979.

Earl of Pemboke underwent a full restoration programme in 1985 and was finally commissioned as a three masted Barque in 1994. Her sail area is the same as that of the Kaskelot though she is slightly smaller.

Earl of Pembroke holds the name of Captain Cook's ship at the time he purchased it though he later named his vessel "Endeavour". Like most vessels in the Square Sail fleet, Earl of Pembroke has taken on many "alias" names for the big and small screen. Perhaps the most famous of these was when the Earl was transformed into the "Hotspur" for the Hornblower series.

Film credits include:

'Hornblower Series III'
'Treasure Island'
'A Respectable Trade'
'Moll Flanders'
'Cutthroat Island'
'Frenchman's Creek'
'Shaka Zulu'
'Longitude'
'Wives & Daughters'

The "Baby" of the Fleet, Phoenix is nonetheless 112 feet long with a beam of just under 22 feet. Phoenix was built in 1929 as an evangelical missionary ship. Whilst under the ownership of Square Sail, Phoenix briefly became the caravel "Santa Maria" after being converted for Ridley Scott's film '1492 Conquest of Paradise'.

She was re-rigged as a two masted brig in 1996 in response to an increased demand for square-rigged ships and it was then that she was renamed "Phoenix of Dell Quay" - her original name.

Anyone who has read Patrick OBrien's Jack Aubrey series will be struck immediately by how similar Phoenix is to Aubrey's first command - "Sophie". In fact, Phoenix appeared in Hornblower series 3 as well as several other film and TV projects. Phoenix takes part in the sailing calendar and short trips can be booked by prior arrangement through the Square Sail website.

Film credits include:

'Hornblower Series III'
'Voyage of Discovery'
'Moll Flanders'
'Frenchman's Creek'
'The Scarlet Pimpernel'

As you will gather, the ships of the Square Sail fleet earn quite a bit of their keep through film appearances. However, Square Sail's ship-building expertise, in addition to remodelling their own ships to suit a given period, can be applied to create shore-based sets for scenes too difficult to film aboard boat.

Square Sail have created sets for Hornblower and for Robinson Crusoe among others with precise attention to detail that only a shipbuilder could achieve.

Among the more ambitious, but successful, projects was the conversion of the Phoenix into the Santa Maria for Ridley Scott's film "1492 : Conquest of Paradise" see below

One great way to enjoy the tall ships of Charlestown, of course, is to book one for a corporate or private event. Square Sail are very experienced hospitality providers and one thing you can guarantee is a memorable event with a unique atmosphere!

For extra "zing" events can even be hosted at sea rather than alongside the harbour wall. Certainly, this offers an incredibly unique wedding reception venue but this type of event is well suited to corporate events and promotions seeking to offer something a bit special!

This option might also be a "once in a lifetime" celebration or party for someone with a real love of the sea.

The Square Sail Fleet is living history! Their ships are not museum exhibits but working ships and the company claims to have the only fleet in the world that earns its keep entirely through paid work.

An important consideration, then, is that the valuable skills necessary to keep this fleet and other historic tall ships at sea are not lost. Each year Square Sail runs a residential Able Seaman qualification which gives participants a through grounding in an entire range of skills and theory connected to these vessels.

The course is intensive, quite tough physically but hugely rewarding - and getting onto it is highly competitive! Nor is the course cheap, but the price includes uniform, lodging and board. The course takes place at Charlestown and aboard ship, wherever in the world the vessels might be needed!

For additional details click HERE