Tall ships in port

Winderward Bound Trust; Tall Ships Victoria; Sail Training International

The 33m square-rigged barquentine tall ship, the Windeward Bound, is offering students the opportunity to join the crew for one of the seven-day voyages from Hobart to Melbourne or the return voyage from Melbourne to Hobart.

The Winderward Bound, which took on it’s first ‘youth’ crew in 1994 and is run by volunteers, offers young people aged
14 to 18 the opportunity to undertake sail training on a modern but traditional tall ship.

Sail training, which is said to have begun on Valentine’s Day in 1866 in London, ‘strengthens a young person’s character’ by using the sail ship as an ‘immersive learning environment for personal development’.

According to the president of Tall Ships Victoria, Mr Peter Harris, sail training is not about teaching students the ‘art and science’ of sailing. Instead, the experience primarily aims to provide young girls and boys with the opportunity to become a member of a team, take responsibility, give and take orders, push themselves mentally and physically and live, work and socialise with new and different people.

The University of Edinburgh recently completed a study, commissioned by Sail Training International, into the value and effectiveness of sail training. More than 300 trainees were surveyed before, during and after participation in over 30 voyages on 20 ships of various sizes from countries around the world, including Australia and New Zealand.

The study showed measureable improvements in social confidence and ability to engage in team work, both of which were still evident at follow-up interviews some six months after the voyage. Adventure was the major factor motivating trainees and the positive benefits were not dependent upon the size or type of ship. The study said that ‘participants respond in overwhelmingly positive ways to their voyages…Trainees develop confidence in themselves, they develop their capacity for teamwork and they develop technical skills.’

For more information about the voyages between Hobart to Melbourne (15-22 January 2008) and Melbourne to Hobart (5-12 February 2008), contact Windeward Bound Trust on 0418 120 243 or 0409 961 327 or visit the Winderward Bound Website.

For a full copy of the Characteristics and Value of the Sail Training Experience report, visit the Sail Training International website.

 

Back to News Page