As thousands of boats flooded the Thames for the Queen’s diamond jubilee river pageant, those in the Clipper yacht race flew their Great Britain spinnakers to pay tribute to Her Majesty on this side of the Atlantic.

A parade-of-sail launched Sunday morning from Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City, sweeping past the Statue of Liberty and nearing the Brooklyn Bridge before docking at North Cove Marina in New York.

Winds rounded the massive spinnakers of the Yorkshire and the Edinburgh, casting a union-jack explosion against southern Manhattan and its rising Freedom Tower, to honor the 60-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

London’s larger flotilla included more than 1,000 vessels – the largest river pageant in that city in more than 300 years, according to the BBC.

The Clipper race departs New York on Thursday June 7 for the last official leg of the round-the-world voyage, which got underway last August in the U.K. The fleet of 10 vessels is scheduled to arrive in Southampton at the end of this month after completing a nearly 40,000-mile journey around the globe.

Each boat bears the name of a different city, with Australian, British, Chinese, and American destinations well-represented. Crew comprise a mix of experienced and novice sailors, some hopping on for specific legs, others staying for the full circumnavigation.

The boats return to a busy summer in London, with the Queen’s jubilee rolling into the Olympic games in July.