Sail Training Shetland Welcomes Two New Committee Members
Sail Training Shetland is delighted to welcome two previous sail trainees to its committee. Vaila Wright was a sail trainee in 2022 and Freyja Tait in 2023 and 2025.
Having discovered first hand how life changing a sail training experience is, both wanted to give back to the organisation and help enable more young Shetlanders to access these sail training opportunities.
Placed aboard Shetland's own Tall Ship, Swan, in 2022 and the larger Class A Tall Ship the SØrlandet in 2025, Freyja found these experiences truly life changing, which is why she decided to join the committee: “That's why I've joined, to give back and help inspire the next generation of young Shetlanders to take on this life changing adventure.”
Having discovered a passion for sailing during her 2022 sail training voyage, Vaila has taken part in the Tall Ships Races a further three times and joined her University sailing club. This year Vaila also crewed aboard the Swan and said it was seeing the impact on all trainees during this time that inspired her to give back to Sail Training Shetland as a committee member: “Sail Training Sheltand has helped young people gain confidence, personal skills, resilience and SO much more. I can't wait to help them on their mission to make sailing accessible and keep Shetland's maritime heritage strong!”
Sail Training Shetland now has 13 committee members, with over half being previous sail trainees. Its Chair, Melanie Henderson, said how rewarding it is to see a number of previous trainees join the board: “Having been with Sail Training Shetland from its beginning in 2009, it is great to see a number of trainees from over the years keen to join our committee to give back and ensure we can continue to provide the life changing experiences they had. Vaila and Freyja will be a great addition to our team and we look forward to working with them.”
Run by a small voluntary committee, Sail Training Shetland has supported over 500 trainees to date, offering day sails free of charge and heavily subsidised Tall Ships Races experiences. It can only do this due to its volunteers, fundraising and sponsorship. Anyone can help support Sail Training Shetland by making a donation via its Local Giving page. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, check out the sponsors page.
You can find a full list of committee members here
