A business man has proposed that Bermuda buy its own tall ship and noted that a ship that was here for Tall Ships 2000 is currently for sale.

Chartered Surveyor Ted Gauntlet said it would be wonderful for Bermuda to have its own tall ship, independent of the Bermuda sloop initiative which is aiming to build a Bermuda schooner over the next year.

Mr. Gauntlet noted that there was an apparently immaculate 105-foot brigantine ship, Eye of The Wind , for sale for just over $1 million.

The ship was here for Tall Ships 2000 and was made famous after its appearance in the 1995 film White Squall.

It was built in 1911 for the South American hide trade and from 1923 served as a Baltic trader for fifty years. In 1973 it was restored to serve as the flagship for Operation Drake.

Mr. Gauntlet suggested that perhaps an international company could buy the ship to use for corporate entertainment and, when not needed, could be used for local sail training helping to meet operating expenses.

He insisted that purchasing a tall ship would not diminish the importance of the ongoing and similarly positive Bermuda sloop initiative, but would further enhance such positive opportunities for young people to learn essential lessons in life.

The Bermuda Sloop Foundation's initiative will see a 100-foot schooner built as a sail training vessel for Bermudian teenagers with its primary mission being the provision of a world class, affordable, outdoor leadership training experience to young people over the age of 13.

The Foundation also hopes that the vessel will be the perfect vehicle to teach Bermuda's maritime history to locals and visitors alike as its design is based on a painting of a Bermuda sloop by the 19th-Century British Maritime artist John Lynn.

Malcolm Kirkland, a Foundation member and long time Bermuda sailor, said that it was great that people were enthused about the tall ships and the need for one in Bermuda.

However, he said that it was unrealistic to consider purchasing a boat from overseas.

Several factors taken into consideration for a Bermuda tall ship are the design constraints, such as not having a draft of more than ten feet so that it could operate in areas such as Castle Islands and Dockyard, as well as issues of safety.

He also noted that the Bermuda sloop initiative was a project rooted in Bermuda's history as a place of great maritime significance, while a ship purchased form overseas would not have the same historical significance.

So far, about $1.1 million has been raised for the Bermuda sloop initiative and it is estimated that the final cost will be in the region of $2.5 million.

Next Wednesday, members of the project will have a meeting with Langan Design Associates (LDA) from Newport Rhode Island to do a performance review of the hull and rig package designed by Peter Boudreau and Bill Nash.

LDA will test many aspects of safety using sophisticated computer programs as well as designing a purpose built interior.

It will be about six weeks before refined drawings have been produced and a more concrete price agreed upon so that fund raising can start in earnest.

It is likely that the projects would compete for public and private sector support and Mr. Kirkland noted that it would be better to undertake the Bermuda sloop initiative first, and if it is oversubscribed, to embark upon another project.