Christian Radich

Type

Full-rigged Ship

Period

20th Century

Nation

Norway

Overview: Christian Radich is a Norwegian three-masted, full-rigged steel sail training ship built in 1937, named after a 19th-century Norwegian shipowner and philanthropist whose foundation commissioned her as a merchant marine cadet school ship. She remains one of Norway's best-known sailing ambassadors and a regular, highly competitive entrant in the Tall Ships' Races. Specifications: The ship is 62.5 m (205 ft) long on deck, 73 m (240 ft) overall including the bowsprit, with a 9.7 m (32 ft) beam, a 4.7 m (15 ft) draught, and a full-load displacement of about 1,050 tonnes. She carries 27 sails totaling 1,360 m² on a 37.7 m mainmast, making up to 14 knots under sail versus 10 knots on her auxiliary Caterpillar diesel, and normally sails with 18 permanent crew plus up to 88 trainees or passengers. Service History: Built by Framnæs Mekaniske Værksted in Sandefjord, she was delivered on 17 June 1937 and served continuously as a merchant-marine sail training ship into the late 1990s. She later spent time as a Royal Norwegian Navy school ship before returning to civilian charter and trainee-voyage duty, and in 1976 she sailed to New York for the U.S. Bicentennial's Operation Sail. She has notched multiple Tall Ships' Race class and overall wins, including in 2007 and again in 2010 when she won the Antwerp-to-Skagen leg and the overall race, her fifth such victory. Notable Facts: The ship gained international fame from the 1958 Cinemiracle widescreen documentary "Windjammer," which chronicled one of her training voyages, and she later appeared in the 1970s British TV series "The Onedin Line," earning her the nickname "the White Lady." She is based in Oslo and remains in active service as a sail training and charter vessel, making her a popular subject for tall-ship scale models.