THE first tall ship sailed into Greenock today ahead of the race's festival weekend.

More than 50 tall ships are racing from Waterford in Ireland to Greenock with Russian vessel Mir, a three-masted, full rigged training ship, arriving just after 10am.

The boat had sailed up the Firth of Clyde last night and berthed off Gourock and was expected to arrive at James Watt Dock this morning.

Named after the Russian word for 'peace', she was built in 1987 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland and is one of the fastest modern sailing ships.

Mir is the second largest of six sister ships designed by Zygmunt Choren' and weighs 2,385 tonnes - with a main mast climbing 52m into the sky.

The owner is the Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy in St. Petersburg, who operate her as their main training vessel.

Mir was originally constructed as a cadet training ship, designed for carrying between 70 and 144 cadets.

The total transport capacity is 199 people and, in addition to the original training role, Mir now also offers sailing trips, daytrips and 'cruises' between ports on a commercial basis.

Mir has taken part in many races, including the annual Tall Ships Races organised by Sail Training International, winning various prizes.

In the 1992 Grand Regatta Columbus - celebrating the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 - Mir emerged as the absolute winner.

The ship was also involved in the SAIL Amsterdam event in August 2010.

Meanwhile, drivers are being urged to check a dedicated travel website ahead of the Tall Ships event. A series of road closures and parking measures will be in place throughout the weekend, so organisers say it is vital visitors and residents check out these changes and, where possible, use transport alternatives.

Traffic Scotland has a dedicated web page, http://trafficscotland.org/tallships/ where road users can find out more about travel to and from the event. This includes information on additional public transport services as well as park and ride facilities.

John Duddy, Amey's traffic officer, said: "We are expecting a dramatic increase in the number of vehicles travelling in and around Greenock during the Tall Ship event, so it is essential that drivers take this into account when planning their journey.

"Traffic Scotland has a dedicated Tall Ships webpage to help with journey planning, but we would also urge drivers to listen for radio updates to help them reach their destination safely and on time."