Fourteen young adults recruited through Sail Training Shetland are preparing for an adventure of a lifetime as they join the Swan and Christian Radich as sail trainees to Race between Kristiansand, Norway and Hartlepool, UK this week.
Ten trainees onboard the Swan will leave Lerwick in the early hours of this morning to sail across to join the celebrations in Kristiansand before starting the final Race of this years’ Tall Ships Races. Four trainees joining the Christian Radich will depart on Thursday night on board NorthLink and travel to Norway to join their ship before the Race begins on Sunday 1st August.
The trainees will experience life as crew members, undertaking tasks such as watch-keeping, setting sails and other domestic duties which they will share with other trainees as part of the onboard team.
Peter Malcolmson, Chairman of Sail Training Shetland said, “We are delighted with the interest in this years’ scheme. We have recruited an excellent team of trainees from around Shetland and hope they will have a great time onboard the Tall Ships. The Trainees will be great ambassadors for Shetland ahead of Lerwick hosting The Tall Ships Races in July next year.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our grant funders, sponsors and supporters; The People’s Postcode Lottery, Shetland Tall Ships 2011 Limited, Lerwick Port Authority, The Swan Trust, Shetland Islands Council, NB Communication, Lerwick Building Centre, DH Marine, Ocean Kinetics, Lerwick Community Council, The Merchant Navy Association of Shetland, Ian Manson (Bletty) Memorial Trust and NorthLink Ferries Ltd for their generous support.”
The successful trainees are: Iain Johnson (Lerwick), James Johnson (Scalloway), Sam Spence (Muckle Roe), Adam Johnson (Unst), Amber Johnson (Unst), David Arthur (Whalsay), Nicole Mouat (Scalloway), Trevor Couper (Lerwick), Scott Sandison (Nesting), Jason Bryant (Lerwick), Tom Henderson (Lerwick), Nicola Brill (Gulberwick), Erin Simpson (Whalsay) and Stephen Leask (Lerwick).