Ships tall - and small

This morning we watched the annual tall ships "race". We caught the 11.30am ferry to Russell and cruised right through the middle of the assembling fleet. We stayed on board for the return trip at noon just as the race began.
Some race! You couldn't see the start line for the mass of craft. Two of the four square-riggers didn’t start with the other hundred or so cheerful participants, most of whom didn’t qualify as “tall” by any normal standard. But when "Spirit of New Zealand" and "Soren Larsen" got started they soon left the smaller craft behind – something to do with waterline length I think…
Who cared? If you couldn’t tell serious participants from fun-loving spectator craft it didn’t matter in the slightest. The day was brilliant and the little family ships had as much fun as any of the bigger corporates. It seemed like everyone who could put together a boat and a crew was out there for the trip.
And, about now, even the very smallest and the slowest of them is getting to the finish line back at Russell.
It’s not how big your craft is or how many were on it but just that you did the distance. A bit like congregations, eh?