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May 9, 1997
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

Newfoundland Flotilla to set sail from Lake Ontario

When Italian navigator John Cabot's Matthew arrived on the shores of Newfoundland in 1497, it was as a solitary vessel reaching lands that were, to that point, removed from the everyday lives of 15th century Europeans.

There were no accompanying vessels from other European countries to share the arrival, and certainly no vast fleets of vessels from North America to salute their marine achievement.

While the departure of the re-created Matthew from Bristol, England on May 2 is indeed an endeavour to re-create history, the scene the vessel will encounter upon arrival at Bonavista, Newfoundland will be quite unlike the scene on the high seas in 1497, thanks in particular to the "Newfoundland Flotilla."

"The Newfoundland Flotilla is a non-profit excursion initiated by a group of Great Lakes yacht owners, and will see one of the largest fleets of sailing craft ever assembled in Canada depart Lake Ontario enroute to meet the Matthew at Bonavista on June 24," says Newfoundland Tourism, Culture and Recreation Minister Sandra Kelly.

Stemming from a concept put forward by Newfoundlander and Lake Ontario yachtsman Robert O'Brien, the Newfoundland Flotilla will depart in style with a dramatic blessing of the fleet and sailpast at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto on Saturday, May 10.

"Could anything be more appropriate than a nautical salute to one of the greatest navigational feats of marine history, the voyage of John Cabot in 1497," Kelly said.

Kelly noted that the Cabot celebrations are not observing the "discovery" of Newfoundland and Labrador by John Cabot.

"Paleoeskimos, Maritime Archaic Indians, Beothuk Indians and Vikings all walked the shores, hills and barrens of Newfoundland and Labrador centuries before Cabot," she says. "However, it was his navigational feat which enabled him to sail to and from Newfoundland, returning to England with an account that ultimately led to the evolution of Canada as we know it today."

Upwards of 90 yachts are expected to take part in the sailpast at Harbourfront Centre on Saturday, with the vessels then progressing down the St. Lawrence seaway to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and then on to their first Newfoundland landfall at "Isle aux Morts."

"If the arrival of the Matthew at Bonavista scheduled for June 24th weren't exciting enough, the site of this huge array of sailing craft approaching one of North America's most historic landfall sites will be almost as moving," Kelly added.

"The Newfoundland Flotilla is just one more element which has evolved from the province's Cabot 500 celebrations, and a most fitting complement to the nautical flavour of our 500th anniversary," she added.

Contact: Doug Burgess, Manager of Communications, 709-729-1997