In 1973 Barclay H. Warburton III was the founder of the American Sail Training Association (ASTA), now called Tall Ships America, a nonprofit organization focused on youth education, leadership development, and the preservation of the maritime heritage of North America. In addition to organizing the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE^® Series, Tall Ships America manages scholarship programs to make sail training experiences more affordable for young people, administers grant programs to assist crew of member vessels with the costs of professional development courses and licensing requirements, and publishes SAIL TALL SHIPS.

ASTA’s efforts in its first decade were primarily focused on organizing tall ships races on the European model, but from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s they worked on a multitude of activities broadly aimed at promoting sail training and supporting education under sail in North America. At the beginning of the 21^st century, ASTA evolved into an organizer of tall ships races, a strong industry association for the growing numbers of vessels involved in providing opportunities for people of all ages to take part in deep water sailing experiences, and a public charity which makes sail training more available and affordable for young people.

With an organizational membership of over 250 vessels, ASTA serves as a forum for information exchange, professional development and program standards.

Over the years, ASTA has undertaken many other projects to meet the needs of a rapidly growing sail training community. These include a variety of publications including SAIL TALL SHIPS! A Directory of Sail Training and Adventure at Sea, an Annual Conference on Sail Training which attracts international interest and participation, a Billet Bank to assist vessels in finding qualified crew members, and vice versa, a growing program of scholarships and grants to support trainees, vessels and professional crew, and a constantly expanding website. In 2001, building on the spectacular success of Tall Ships^® 2000, ASTA launched its most ambitious project to date — the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE^® Series, an annual series of tall ships races and maritime port festivals that informs the general public about tall ships, our maritime heritage and the incredible power of sail training to change lives.