TEN young people aged 12 – 15 set sail on a voyage from Portsmouth to Plymouth on 24 July on board an iconic 72ft Challenger yacht with Tall Ships Youth Trust on the first leg of its round Britain tour.

The young people have travelled from all over the country from places such as North Shields, Cockermouth, Manchester and Blandford Forum to take part in a once in a lifetime experience sailing onboard TSYT’s Challenger 4 —famous for having sailed twice round the world as part of the Global Challenge Races.

TSYT is the UK’s oldest and largest youth development sail training charity and is delighted to be running its Round Britain Adventure tour for the first time since 2019.

Challenger yacht with sails up. Image: John Green Cowes

Alastair Floyd, CEO of TSYT, said: “The pandemic stopped us from running this fantastic tour but not anymore! This summer, a total of 80 young people will benefit from a residential development opportunity onboard our Challenger 4, as she circumnavigates the British coastline with eight separate crews of young people from all over the country.

“The tour will see us stopping at eight different ports including Plymouth, Liverpool, Greenock, Newcastle and Ipswich. We’ll also be hosting several events along the way as part of our efforts to increase our reach across the country to enable even more young people to experience a life-changing voyage.”

On this first leg, all the young people have booked individually and are unlikely to know any of their fellow crew on the first day. The other seven voyages are groups arranged in partnership with organisations including Youth Action Wiltshire, the National School Sailing Association and Naval Children’s Charity.

Throughout the five-day adventure, the young people will get involved in all aspects of sailing and crewing the boats. From start to finish they’ll be doing everything from steering to food preparation, maintenance and cleaning.

Importantly, they will be supported by TSYT’s professionally trained crew who work with young people to increase their practical life skills as well as develop their personal and social skills.

Members of the public can find out more about the charity at one of its open events taking place at:

Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, on Sunday 14 August, 10:00 –16:00
James Watt Dock Marina, Greenock, Scotland, on Monday 22 August, 08:00 – 14:00
Royal Quays Marina, North Shields, Newcastle, on Saturday 10 September, 10:00 –13:00
Orwell Quay, Ipswich, on Saturday 17 September, 10:00 –16:00

If you have any queries relating to these events, please email: info@tallships.org

Visit: www.tallships.org for more information.

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