Thirteen high-masted sailing ships are set to depart Savannah to begin their race up the eastern seaboard.

The Tall Ships Challenge was scheduled to get underway Monday after a three-day festival in Savannah. The competing vessels will parade out of the Savannah harbor to the Atlantic Ocean. The race will take them to Greenport, N.Y., Newport, R.I., and finish in July in Nova Scotia.

The weekend marked the first time Savannah has hosted a tall-ships event in 15 years. The festival gave visitors a chance to tour the ships and even take short excursion cruises. Local tourism officials expected as many as 75,000 people to come out for the event.

Tags: tourism, Savannah, Tall Ships Challenge