Morvargh Sailing Project are looking for eight people aged 14-18 to take part in Aspire360 and sail 1,735 nautical miles around the coast of Britain

Aspire360 is being organised by Morvargh Sailing Project and is open to young applicants from across the UK.

It will begin and end in Sutton Harbour, Plymouth, and is expected to take five weeks to complete. The crew of young people who will have very little or no sailing experience will be supported by a team of eight adults. They will turn right out of Plymouth Sound and sail in a clockwise direction on Morvargh Sailing Project’s 57 foot ketch, Helen Mary R.

Captain Matthew Barraud said; “The young people will swap the comforts of home for single bunks, a moving deck and having to learn how to cook, clean and look after each other as they get used to their new home. At 57 feet, and weighing 30tons, our Tall Ship, Helen Mary R is as long as five cars and weighs the equivalent of two double decker busses! The largest sail, which the young people will have to manually hoist, is 60ft tall and 40ft wide. It will be a challenge which will see them battle strong winds, freezing temperatures and rough seas at times throughout the trip; as well as marvelling at our beautiful coastline under sun-drenched skies. It will be a feat of pure physical, mental, emotional and academic endurance, but one which will leave the young people changed forever. They will make strong bonds with their crew mates, increase their own understanding of themselves and their boundaries and most importantly have the confidence that they can try and excel at anything!”.

 Helen Mary R tall ship at sea

At the heart of ASPIRE360 are a number of educational objectives; not only will the young people be encouraged to push their personal boundaries throughout, they will also learn about themselves as individuals; in their relationships with others and importantly improving their academic skills. The whole five week trip has been designed to link into and compliment the National Curriculum and every activity on board will deepen the understanding of the core subjects both to the participant and the class as a whole.

The challenge will incorporate a number of tools, such as the use of social media platforms to document the sailing trip, and even an email newsletters written by the young participants to engage with a wider audience.

Schools will be able to keep in contact with ‘their’ student and questions can be sent to them via email to be answered during the voyage allowing the rest of the class and school to benefit.

kid on top of the mast

Events and visits have already been planned at each location to allow the participants to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the importance of the sea to Britain as well as discovering more about this country’s history and geography.

Helen Mary R will be fitted with a tracker allowing live position updates to be displayed on an interactive chart with on the website and young people will also write daily logs to be uploaded.

The young sailors will set off on Sunday 2nd April 2017 and sail 1735 nautical miles around the coast of Britain.

The start of the event will also mark the day that Morvargh Sailing gets back into the water following three years of fundraising after discovering that the Helen Mary R’s rigging would have to be renewed for commercial coding.

Applicants can register their interest at http://www.morvargh-sailing.co.uk/aspire360-application-process/.

Interested schools can contact vicky@morvargh-sailing.co.uk to request an application pack.

ASPIRE 360 is already proving very popular and the Morvargh Sailing Project will choose the eight young people via a selection process. Aspire360 has partnered with the Mount Batten Watersports and Activity Centre in Plymouth to help them with the difficult task.