By Emily Schopfer
SANDY HOOK – The event Monmouth County was waiting for finally arrived last weekend: The Tall Ships officially anchored off the tip of Sandy Hook ahead of Sail4th 250 and the Parade of Sail in New York Harbor July 4. Sail4th 250 was the largest international maritime spectacle in U.S. history, according to the organization, and the state and county played a large role.
“This seven-day celebration is expected to surpass all previous Operation Sail historical events… in scale and scope,” according to the organization. Previous events took place in 1964, 1976, 1986, 1992, 2000 and 2012.
And Sail4th 250 did not disappoint. About 60 Tall Ships from more than 20 nations joined the U.S. for the occasion.
Before the ships set off July 4 to the Grand Parade of Sail into the Port of New York and New Jersey, organizers from the Sandy Hook Foundation, Sail4th 250, and Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area kicked off the holiday weekend with an intimate welcoming ceremony. The July 3 event invited U.S. Navy sailors, ship captains, local officials and more to gather and take in the views.
Sienna Kay, a Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School student, performed the national anthem behind the color guard from the Naval Science Department of the Marine Academy of Science and Technology.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill made her way to Sandy Hook for the event to give the captains of the Tall Ships her formal welcome to New Jersey – and America. “It’s this harbor that has been the gateway to America,” Sherrill said. “A beacon for freedom, welcoming immigrants, a channel for commerce building a strong middle class, a stronghold for the military defending our nation. And New Jersey has been the backdrop for it all.”
Sherrill spoke of New Jersey’s diversity and innovativeness, adding that “as we mark America’s 250th anniversary this weekend, we build on that legacy of liberty and prosperity, our state motto.”
Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area is a 27,000-acre national park, noted acting Superintendent Minka Sendich. The park is also one of the Top 5 most-visited national parks in the country, with over 9 million visitors every year. “Sandy Hook, with its unparalleled beaches, maritime history, and spectacular coastal landscape is the perfect landscape for this momentous occasion,” she said.
“Welcoming you here at the very gateway to America (the Port of New York and New Jersey) feels exactly right as we begin celebrating our nation’s 250th birthday,” said Sandy Hook Foundation Board chair Pete Izzo. He quoted writer, historian and conservationist Wallace Stegner, saying national parks were America’s “best idea.”
“They are absolutely American, and absolutely democratic. They belong to the people. They reflect us at our best, and they give every generation a place to connect with our shared heritage, our natural wonders, and with one another,” he said.
Sail4th 250 board member, retired U.S. Navy Capt. Dan Dayton referred to the occasion as a “once-in-a-generation event.” The Tall Ships out in the harbor represented three values, Dayton said: freedom, hope and opportunity. “Freedom – the courage to chart our own course. Hope – the belief that tomorrow can be better than today. And opportunity – the promise that hard work, vision, and determination can open new horizons for every person, every generation,” he said.
The Sail4th 250 events, which began in April 2020, were “a time to reflect, a time to come together, not only as Americans and as New Jerseyans and New Yorkers, but as the world,” Sail4th 250 President Chris O’Brien said. “It has been an honor working with the countries coming together.”
On the opposite side of the bay, about 60 sailors from Italy’s Tall Ship, the Amerigo Vespucci, were hosted by Highlands. The sailors took part in a variety of tours, a reception at One Willow, and musical performances by Solas Na Mara Pipe Band and the Henry Hudson Regional Marching Band. Highlands Mayor Carolyn Broullon welcomed the sailors from the over 300-foot-long Italian naval training vessel at the Sandy Hook Bay Marina.
Joining the Amerigo Vespucci and other Tall Ships were over 40 allied and U.S. naval vessels, a British aircraft carrier, over 100 aircraft led by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, and more. The July 4 Parade of Sail around the New York Harbor was led by the U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle. The Eagle, nicknamed “America’s Tallest Ship,” is a 295-foot-long, 150-foot-tall training vessel that also led the bicentennial parade in 1976.
The festivities are expected to conclude with a race July 9 from New York to Boston for the Five Sisters Cup. The race will include four of the world’s five identical sister ships still in service: the U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle, the Sagres (Portugal), the Mircea (Romania), and the Gorch Fock (Germany). All four serve as active sail training vessels for their respective navies and coast guards.
The article originally appeared in the July 2 – 8, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
