The Spirit of Bermuda returned home at the weekend, amid jubilant scenes.

The three-masted schooner sailed into Hamilton Harbour and on to Dockyard accompanied by a colourful flotilla of yachts and small craft.

It was the end of an epic voyage of more than 7,000 miles, racing against ten other vessels in the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge.

Spirit left Bermuda on April 4 for the Azores and then Vigo, Spain, where she began the first leg of the race.

The second leg, from Tenerife, Spain, to Bermuda, was her longest journey, with 20 days at sea in conditions ranging from high seas to several days of calm.

It was this lack of wind which scuppered her chances in the Class B race, with a high pressure system causing officials to call the race out of concern vessels would not arrive in time for Bermuda's four-day Tall Ships Festival this Thursday.

Class A and B ships were instructed to proceed under motor, with the Sail Training International race committee to finalise the results based on where each ship was at 11 a.m. on June 2.

Provisionally, Spirit was fourth in her fore and aft rigged class, but Captain Simon Colley said she may well have placed first in the Tenerife to Bermuda leg if the race had continued.

"Until half way through the race we were first on the water, first in class and first overall, and it's down to the crew for that," he said.

"We had wind conditions which favoured the other vessels more but right through until the race was called we were racing to win and we could well have made it if the race hadn't been called.

"We were expecting calm but it was longer than expected, and we were leaving the calm when the race was called so it was a strategy which never really had an opportunity to pay off.

Mr. Colley said: "But it's not really a race if you're the only ones there. We have enjoyed the racing but the point of this event is not about the competition, it's about bringing together young people from all over the world by sea, to celebrate Bermuda's 400th Anniversary.

"You can't have a Tall Ships Festival if the Tall Ships are in the middle of the Atlantic."

He said: "It was disappointing in the moment but straight away we were thinking about bringing Spirit home and enjoying the festival."

Praising his crew, he said: "This is the best crew this ship has ever sailed with. I have sailed with a lot of the trainees before but some of them have changed dramatically since I first met them a year ago.

"They have grown into themselves, into their identities and have a greater sense of who they are.

"There are few opportunities for youth to have this sort of responsibility. They can immediately see the relevance of team work and consideration for others.

"These people have been at this for weeks now and are giving the same level of dedication as when they started. That is what has enabled us to be so competitive in this race."

After two months of challenges, which included a ripped foresail, Spirit finally returned home on Saturday morning. There were hugs and tears at Dockyard as families were reunited with loved ones.

Michelle Williams, mother of 23-year-old Watch Leader Lawson Williams, said: "It's fantastic to have him home, and such a relief. It's been a hard couple of months."

This week more than 40 ships will sail to the Island to take part in the Tall Ships Festival, being staged here to celebrate Bermuda's 400th anniversary of permanent settlement. Up to two dozen Tall Ships from Europe, the US, Canada and Latin America are expected.

The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 marks Spirit's first transatlantic crossing. The 112-foot training vessel crossed the Atlantic twice in what has also been a historic voyage for Bermudians of Portuguese descent.

Her journey to the Azores and Vigo in Spain has connected the past with the present for many. Bermuda's links to the Azores stretch back to the 1840s.

Today also marks 400 years since the Sea Venture left Falmouth for Jamestown. The flagship of the Virginia Company was transporting settlers and provisions to the New World when she was shipwrecked on the Isle of Devils (Bermuda) on July 28, 1609.