Sail Training is an incredible, exciting and fun and adventure. Sailing on our yachts as part of a team, responsible for the running of the boat will open a whole new world of challenges, skills and learning. You don’t need any previous sailing experience as our Afterguard on board will teach you everything you need to know. If you have sailing experience, you will enrich your existing skills. As part of a watch, you will work with new people handling sails, helming, navigating, keeping watch and cooking fabulous meals. Together you will meet the challenges of the sea.
Sail training is an outdoor fun and rewarding adventure activity, but it also requires participants to dig deep and work though demanding challenges, physical and emotional. It is an activity that inspires self-confidence and the acceptance of personal responsibility. It promotes an acceptance of others whatever their social or cultural backgrounds, and develops a willingness to take controlled risks. For those who participate it can be a positive life-changing experience.
The RSP is a volunteer-based sail training organisation, working primarily with young people between the ages of 14 and 25. In addition to these Sail Training Voyages we run therapeutic voyages for vulnerable adults including those with learning disabilities, mental health issues and those in treatment or recovery from mental health issues and substance misuse. We also work with both adults and young people who are living with conditions such as cancer.
We do not exclusively target one kind of person over another, achieving a mix of people who sail with us is important, and equality of access is central to how we operate. Those who sail with us come from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, mix of abilities, with varying degrees of sailing experience, and from across the UK, Ireland and Europe.
One of the unique aspects of the organisation, which is key to its longevity and success, is that the organisation is volunteer-based. The RSP depends on more than 300 volunteers to run the voyages, and to maintain and refit the vessels. The richness of the organisation today is found in the diverse backgrounds and skills of the volunteers, ranging from health and maritime professionals and businessmen to students. Our Skippers are all trained to RYA Yachtmaster level. Most of our volunteer Afterguard initially joined the project as trainees, and 60% of our skippers joined this way. Find out more about those onboard.
The word cloud shows the key themes as stated in the Trainee feedback over three years, 2015/16/17.