1105 – ‘Channel Dragon Venturer’ – Channel

Over the period 9th – 16th April 10 cadets from Lordswood Boys’ School took part in a week’s off-shore sailing expedition aboard one of the Tall Ships Youth Trust ‘Challenger’ yachts. They were part of a large party from Birmingham that chartered the whole flotilla of four Challengers under the sponsorship of the Enterprise Sailing Trust. One of the other yachts was crewed by Royal Naval cadets from the Contingents sub section at Selly Oak Trust School.

The voyage started and finished at Portsmouth. Upon arrival the cadets spent time settling into the vessel and being given a safety brief and training. Then, to put this into practice, they went on a tour of Portsmouth harbour, including the Naval Dockyard. This also gave them the opportunity to sail past HMS Diamond, our affiliated warship, at whose commissioning parade some of the cadets on this expedition would later take part. By this point all the crews had been briefed to design a ships crest and sea shanty by the end of the voyage as part of the inter yacht competition.

The next stop was Cowes where the fleet remained at anchor overnight with the cadets taking turns at anchor watch. Starting before dawn the next morning the yacht set sail for Portland where they were lucky enough to be given a guided tour of the Olympic Sailing Centre. The crew then sailed back up the Channel stopping at more ports and harbours along the way, including Weymouth, where the cadets had a tour around a clipper that was in the harbour. On the final full sailing day the cadets took charge of the vessel for an inter yacht navigation race around the Solent. All the young crew members had to plot and navigate a course in competition with the other boats. The Lordswood crew won!

Over the week the cadets had to cook and wash up for the whole crew, learn to sail a ship, and clean all parts of the yacht including the ‘heads’! All the cadets were awarded their Royal Yachting Association ‘Start Yachting’ certificate.

Some comments from the crew: ‘You learn to keep going when you are cold and wet!’ Cadet Lance Corporal Raad Asmael (Army section) ‘We have to do everything because our parents are not here to do it for us!’ Cadet Daniel Crawford (RAF section)

The majority of cadets on this expedition come from underprivileged backgrounds, most are on Free School Meals. The full cost per berth was £499 which is way beyond the means of their families. As a result of grants from Enterprise Sailing Trust and the Ulysses Trust we were able to reduce this to an affordable level. This type of opportunity has a huge impact on the lives of our young people. Few of them would ever get this type of opportunity were it not offered by the school/cadets. The experience develops their social and leadership skills, as well as raising their aspirations. It helps to level the playing field with more advantaged young people when it comes to jobs and university applications.