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!

How to get to and from Turku?

Turku is Finland's oldest city. Bisecting Turku city centre, the River Aura is the heart and soul of the city:
this is where Turku was born, and a large part of city life – museums, sights, restaurants and cafés – is
still concentrated on the riverside. The riverbanks form a national urban park allowing for a pleasant
stroll from the Turku Cathedral to the Turku Castle. Close to the river mouth is the island of Ruissalo,
with oak forests and 19th-century villas. Turku is at its best in summertime, when it hosts many festivals,
including rock festivals, chamber music festivals and a medieval fair.

Useful Websites:

Turku destination information: https://www.turku.fi/en
Travelling to & around Turku: https://en.visitturku.fi/travelling-to--around-turku-3938
Tourist information office: https://www.turku.fi/en/monitori-customer-service-centre/touristinformation-bureau

By Air:

Turku International Airport is located 8 km from Turku city center and 12 km from the port. Airlines
operating from Turku are SAS to Stockholm with connections all around Europe and to US,
(www.flysas.com), airBaltic to Riga with connections to numerous European destinations
(www.airbaltic.com) , Wizz Air to Gdansk and Rome (www.wizzair.com) and Amapola to Åland Islands
(www.amapola.nu).

The Helsinki-Vantaa capital area airport is located 170 km or 2 hours away from Turku, offering direct
connections all around Europe, Asia and US with Finnair (www.finnair.com) and many other carriers.
Finnair also offers a bus transfer between Turku and Helsinki-Vantaa as an additional service for flight
bookings.
More information about airports, services and operating airlines via www.finavia.fi/en
Turku airport is accessible by public transport, the local bus number 1 runs between the airport, city
center and cruise port every 15 minutes. The timetables and traffic information www.foli.fi/en.

By Ferry:

There are daily ferries between Stockholm/Kapellskär and Turku, the ferries stop in Åland Islands on the
way and the journey takes 11 hours. The companies operating are Tallink Silja
(https://en.tallink.com/en/book-a-cruise) and Viking Line (https://www.sales.vikingline.com/). The ferry
port is located 3 km from Turku city center. A faster 8-hour ferry connection between Kapellskär (90 km
from Stockholm) and Naantali (15 km from Turku) is operated by Finnlines (www.finnlines.com).

How to get to and from Mariehamn?

By Air:

Located just outside the city is Mariehamn airport. To the airport can you arrive from Finland or Sweden.
From the airport can you either take a taxi to the center of Mariehamn or take a 4 km walk in soothing
surroundings. (https://www.finavia.fi/en/airports/mariehamn)

There are direct flights from Helsinki and Stockholm to Mariehamn. (https://www.finnair.com/)

By Ferry:

The Åland Islands have several harbours and a regular ferry traffic. You can arrive to Åland with ferry
from Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. Depending on which ferry line you choose will you arrive either to
the central harbour in Mariehamn or to Långnäs or Berghamn. From Långnäs and Berghamn regular
coaches are available to Mariehamn.

Useful websites:
www.vikinline.ax
www.eckerolinjen.ax
www.tallinksilja.fi

We also recommend following page for as a single point of contact for your overall travel arrangements
to Åland: www.axtours.ax