Experience
Are you a beginning sailor, do you already have experience or is it your first time at sea? Maybe it is even your first contact with sailing?
Together with other youths, you will make a journey across the sea on T/S Saeftinghe. The experience you will gain will be with you for the rest of your life. You will learn how to sail and navigate along the way. An experienced crew is present who are happy to share their knowledge and experience.
Experience is not necessary. However, we do expect you to be willing to work together, to hoist the sails, to cook together, to keep watch, all under the supervision of an experienced crew.
Age
The Tall Ships Races are created to give young people the opportunity to gain a life experience and to promote international friendships and encourage mutual understanding and respect.
You must be at least 15 years old and no more than 25 years old on the day of departure. If you were born between July 1998 and August 2008, you meet the requirements.
Are you over 25 and do you wish to participate? This is possible as long as 50% of the crew consists of youngsters between 15 and 25 years old.
Register
The first "real" step you have to do as a trainee to participate in this adventure is to register. Once you have registered you can confirm your participation. You can register or log in here.
Preparation
A good preparation is important. As captain and crew we like to get acquainted before you get on board.
We therefore invite you to visit the ship and get to know the captain and crew before your departure. This way you can walk around the ship, explore and we can already give you a basis of information, we will answer your questions as fully as possible. We take you along for the ride so you are already ready for life on a sailing ship.
We will do this introduction during Ostend at Anchor (from the 23th till the 26th of May 2024) in which T/S Saeftinghe also participates.
What we expect
A sailing ship at sea sails day and night. In order to maintain this permanence, we work in three shifts led by an experienced watchofficer. These 'teams' keep watch and they follow one another:
- Team 1: 09.00h till 12.00h
- Team 2: 12.00h till 15.00h
- Team 3: 15.00h till 18.00h
- Team 1: 18.00h till 21.00h
- Team 2: ...
During these watches you will be in charge of the navigation, steering the ship and keeping a lookout.
Apart from guard duties we also cook, maintain the ship and take time to rest, read and talk to each other. A day at sea will not be boring quickly!