The Sea is Calling!

Swan will leave Shetland on Friday 28 June with ten trainees to make their way across the North Sea to Aalborg in Denmark, joining the immense fleet of other Tall Ships on Wednesday 3 July. Race One will then commence, after an impressive 'parade of sail', with vessels competing to Fredrikstad in Norway.

The other two trainees will join the Norwegian three-masted barque Statsraad Lehmkuhl to take part in the same race, with both groups disembarking on Saturday 13 July to start their return journey back home.

All of the trainees will join in the host port celebrations, mixing with other participants from across the world forming new friendships.

Under the guidance of their crews, trainees will work closely with the crew of their allocated ships, learning a wide range of hands on skills such as watch-keeping, setting sails and other domestic duties which they will share during their time onboard.

Looking forward to her Tall Ships adventure, 21 year old Abi Marples from Lerwick commented, "I was fortunate to experience sailing on Swan thanks to Sail Training Shetland in 2014, taking part in Nordisk Sejlads between Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Now I can't wait to get the chance to push myself further and experience life on board a much larger ship, Statsraad Lehmkuhl, and meet people from all over the world taking part in the Tall Ships Races! I hope to learn something new about myself from stepping out of my comfort zone. There's going to be such a fantastic atmosphere ashore and onboard and I'm really excited to see how well we do in the race - last year they won Race 2 in their class! It's going to be amazing!"

Peter Campbell, Chairman of Sail Training Shetland said, "Since 2009, Sail Training Shetland has provided invaluable sailing experiences to young people from across Shetland. We are delighted we can facilitate these fantastic opportunities again this year helped by generous sponsorship and fundraising activities. An enthusiastic group of young people are about to set off across the North sea to participate in the renowned Tall Ships festival celebrating crewmanship and a sense of adventure. We are confident that their time onboard will be very positive and look forward to learing of their sailing stories and race highlights when they return".

"Sail Training Shetland wishes to take this opportunity to thank its sponsors and supporters; Lerwick Port Authority, J.R. Hutton Consulting Ltd, Morenot Aquaculture, Tulloch Developments Ltd, Shetland Tall Ships Ltd, EnQuest on behalf of the Sullom Voe Terminal Owners, The Swan Trust, Serco NorthLink Ferries and Artmachine for their generous support in helping to make these trainee placements possible".

Sail Training Shetland sail trainees and sponsors pictured on board Faroese sailing smack 'Westward Ho' at Victoria Pier.
Back Row (L to R) Sponsors, David Goodlad - Morenot Aqauculture, John Henderson - Lerwick Port Authority, Richie Fraser - EnQuest on behalf of the Sullom Voe Terminal owners, Steven Hutton - J.R. Hutton Consulting Ltd, Peter and Joe Smith - Tulloch Developments Ltd
Middle Row (L to R) Sail Trainees, Abi Marples (21) Lerwick, Andrew Manson (23) Brae, Daniel Sinclair (18) Cunningsburgh, Malachi Hendry (16) Cunningsburgh, Michael Noblett (21) Lerwick
Front Row (L to R) Sail Trainees, James Phillips (16) Lerwick, Jay Milne (15) Lerwick, Xenon Johnson (15) Lerwick, Aaron Regler (15) Lerwick, Sarah Kissick (21) South Nesting and Ailish Parham - Sail Training Shetland
Missing from the photo - Laura Bowles (15) Walls and Jan Peters (17) Orkney