The age of sail ended in Hampton Roads when two steam-powered ironclads - Monitor and Merrimack - fought in the James River in 1862. Steam and iron proved superior to sail and wood, and the title has never been relinquished.

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Towering sailboats from Brazil, Indonesia, Colombia and Spain will soon sail into Norfolk and crowd docks from Harbor Park to West Ghent. Navy vessels from Denmark, Germany, Peru and Norway, and lots of ships from closer to home will join them.

Welcome centers: The OpSail 2012 Virginia/ Harborfest welcome centers are in Town Point Park, historic Freemason District, NOAA, Front Street Park at Fort Norfolk and West Ghent Piers at MHI. Guest services include ATMs, lost and found, directions, information.

In addition to the traditional Parade of Sail, featuring the arrival of the international fleet of tall ships on June 8, OpSail will also showcase two new parades - the Sea and Air Parade of Sail on June 6 and the Parade of Sail up the Chesapeake Bay on June 12. 
JUNE 6: SEA AND AIR PARADE OF SAIL

In general, tall ship and navy ship tours will be hosted in Norfolk between noon and sunset. Navy ships will be open to the public beginning on June 7 and tall ships on June 8 to June 11.

In times past, the Chesapeake Bay and the harbor of Hampton Roads would have been filled with sailing ships riding the wind. That time has come again.

In general, tall ship and navy ship tours will be hosted in Norfolk between noon and sunset. Navy ships will be open to the public beginning on Thursday, June 7 and tall ships on Friday, June 8 until Monday, June 11. For more tours and events, visit our ship-related events page.

NORFOLK A large crane slowly lowered the two masts, both more than 80 feet tall, into place on the Schooner Virginia as a small crowd watched Monday afternoon from a pier at Lyon Shipyard on the Elizabeth River. The 4,200-pound foremast was first, sliding through a hole in the deck and into the mast step on the ship's keel.

NORFOLK Williamsburg native and national recording artist Bruce Hornsby will headline OpSail 2012 and Norfolk Harborfest, Festevents announced this morning. Hornsby and his Noisemakers will perform for the first time at Town Point Park in a free concert on Saturday, June 9, a Festevents news release says.