A BRIEF taste of things to come will be on offer when a tall-masted vessel sails into a North-East port this summer.

Sunderland has been named as one of the host cities for the 2018 Tall Ships Race, following similar successful visits to the region for the major seafaring event in recent decades.

Newcastle/Gateshead has three times played host to the flotilla of tall ships on the Tyne, while the event was most recently in the region when Hartlepool was the venue for a leg of the maritime showpiece, in 2010.

The Tall Ships Youth Trust, formerly the Sail Training Association, announced last September that the Wear will provide one of the stops in the 2018 race, while Blyth, on the Northumberland coast, is to feature in the smaller Tall Ships Regatta, in August next year.

Ahead of those events, Wearsiders can start to gain their sea legs with a visit from one of the likely participants.

The trust is bringing the Stavros S Niarchos, the biggest ship of her kind to be built in Britain in more than a century, to Sunderland.

A public open day will take place on Saturday, July 4, following a five-night taster voyage down the North-East coast.

The decks of the 200ft square-rigged brig can be inspected at the Open Ship event, between noon and 5pm.

Novices can experience life on board a tall ship, while exploring the North Sea and seeing up close the wildlife along its coastline.

For those with a yearning for life at sea, the taster voyage, from Sunday, June 28 to Friday, July 3, will provide the ideal opportunity under the stewardship of experienced hands from the trust.

Following the open day, the Stavros S Niarchos will depart Sunderland with a crew of 12 - 15-year-olds on board, on a School Activities Week.

It is seen as providing the perfect environment to build confidence and develop team work while learning to sail a tall ship, for potential future competitors in the race itself.

** Further information on the taster voyage, from Blyth to Sunderland, and the School Activities Week, from Sunday July 5 to Friday July 10, is available via www.tallships.org, the trust website.

The charge is £479, but bursaries of £145 are available.