Young Shetlanders inspired by Shetland's Tall Ship

The sail training taster days aboard the Swan enabled many young people, aged 15-25 years, to learn about sail training, and what it would be like to take part in the Tall Ships Races 2024. Trainees from all over Shetland took part and the feedback, both from the Swan crew and the trainees, was overwhelmingly positive.

Feedback from the trainees included:

This has positively impacted my wellbeing. It’s like letting go of any worries on your mind because you have a bigger task at hand that needs you to join in.

Extremely fun and out of my comfort zone!

This experience has motivated me to go and try similar experiences, and hopefully gain more confidence and independence.

Fun, exciting, new and wet!

I strongly believe this sail training has made me a lot more confident in myself and trying new experiences, which is something I have struggled with in the past.

A day packed full of smiles and fun tasks.

I now feel able to voice my opinions in front of a group without feeling judged.

Doing activities like lifting the mizzen sail or taking in the jib were very hard to begin with, but by the afternoon we were working as a team and it was all very easy.

Amazing, great fun, and definitely worth going on.

A big thank you to the crew, Sail Training Shetland, sponsors and everyone involved in providing these days, I have really enjoyed every experience.

As well as offering a day’s learning aboard Swan, the experience also allowed Sail Training Shetland to get to know more about the trainees and select six of those taking part to participate in the second stage of their programme – taking part in Sail Training International’s Tall Ships Races in July 2024.

These six trainees will join the Class A tall ship Roald Amundsen to participate in Race 3 of the Tall Ships races between Mariehamn, Åland Islands and Szczecin, Poland.

Melanie Henderson, Chair of Sail Training Shetland, said: “We were delighted to work with the Swan Trust again in delivering the sail training taster days. Shetland is so lucky to have a community resource like Swan, and seeing how the trainees engaged with the vessel, crew and each other was really inspiring. To see the incredible feedback from all trainees about the taster days demonstrates the benefits of this type of experience, as well as the great work of the Swan crew to engage and inspire those aboard.

The enthusiasm from all who took part made it, as always, really hard to pick just a few to go onto our longer placements for the Tall Ships Races. We are really looking forward to getting to know these trainees further in the lead up to their placements and hearing about their Tall Ships Races adventures. As we have seen time and again, sail training really is a life changing experience, and that is what inspires us as a volunteer committee to dedicate our time to providing these opportunities for our young people.”

The Committee would like to thank all its supporters, including the main sponsor for this year’s scheme, Arven Offshore Windfarm.

If you would like to sponsor our annual programme, check out our sponsors page

Anyone can help support Sail Training Shetland by making a donation online via our Local Giving page