Finland - Tall Ship's Race 1972

The term has been in occasional use since at least Shakespearian times:

"The Goodwins, I think they call the place, a very dangerous flat, and fatal, where the carcasses of many a tall ship lie buried ...."
Shakespeare - Merchant of Venice

"I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
..."
John Masefield - Sea Fever

and can also be found in folklore with "Mackerel sky and mare's tails make tall ships take in sails" (probably a corruption of "mackerel sky and mare's tails make lofty ships carry low sails").

The Finnish Training Ship Suomen Joutsen is featured on this stamp on the FDC commemorating the Tall Ship Race in 1972. Suomen Joutsen (Swan of Finland in English) (former names are Laënnec, Oldenburg) is a three-mast, steel hull, full rigged ship. She was built in 1902 in St. Nazaire, France to serve in the trade between Atlantic and Pacific ports. In 1930 she was bought by the Government of Finland to serve as Finnish Navy training ship. Before World War II she made eight long ocean voyages. From 1956 she was a stationary Seamen's School for the Finnish Merchant Navy. Since 1991, she has been a museum ship owned by City of Turku, Finland.