A TALL ship charity is today launching a massive fund-raising campaign, which bosses hope will net £200,000 in just four months.

Southampton-based Jubilee sailing Trust wants to boost its funds in the year that Britain celebrates the bicentenary anniversary of its greatest naval victory, the Battle of Trafalgar.

The trust's flagship Lord Nelson will be open for visitors at Portsmouth's Gun-wharf Quays today to mark the launch of the T200k campaign.

Trust boss Amanda Butcher said: "This is to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the Jubilee Sailing Trust's role in the Sea-Britain 2005 celebrations.

"We are a unique charity and one that relies solely on charitable donations to fulfil our aim. Operating tall ships is an expensive business and we need to raise at least £200,000 during this appeal."

The Jubilee Sailing Trust, based at Woolston, owns the only two tall ships in the world designed specifically to be sailed by disabled and able-bodied people.

It costs a staggering £1.7m a year to put them to sea - and all the holidays are subsidised to enable as many people to join the voyages as possible.

More than 25,000 people, including 10,000 with disabilities, have put to sea on Lord Nelson and Tenacious in the trust's 19-year history. About 4,000 of those have even been wheelchair users.

This year the extraordinary ships, which have Braille signs and electric wheelchair lifts between decks, are playing a key role in the Trafalgar celebrations.

Both Tenacious and Lord Nelson will be joining the historic Fleet Review off Spithead in the Solent on June 25, before sailing back to Portsmouth for the International Festival of the Sea.

In July, Lord Nelson will recreate the historic journey which told of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Lord Nelson, taking in the Spanish port of Cadiz before arriving in Falmouth.

In September it will also join the Thames Flotilla, recreating Nelson's waterborne funeral procession from Greenwich to White-hall.

To donate or find out more about the charity, visit the website at www.jst.org.uk or telephone 0870 443 5781.