TWELVE young people from Weir Quay Sailing Club recently completed a five-day sail training voyage on Trinity Sailing’s heritage vessel ‘Leader’, with the trip pronounced an outstanding success.

All the group were awarded RYA (Royal Yachting Association) ‘Start Yachting’ certificates, as well as RYA logbooks for recording voyages to support future qualifications in their sailing careers.

From start to finish the cadets, who are aged 14-18, enthusiastically embraced every aspect of sailing ‘Leader’ including helming; working in teams to hoist and lower the sails (no mean task on an old vessel where everything is done by hand); keeping watch; filling in the log; making passage plans and night navigation. They were involved in all aspects of life on board, such as cleaning the vessel above and below decks; engine checks, preparing meals and washing up. Even when the going was tough, they stepped up to the challenges of adverse weather, rolling seas and running anchor watches right through the night.

The trip started and finished in the busy port of Brixham where ‘Leader’, a restored Brixham fishing trawler built in 1892 and used for sailing since 1970, was originally based. The voyage covered 109 nautical miles, spending nights at anchor and with time ashore to explore the beautiful harbour towns of Lyme Regis and Dartmouth, finishing with a night sail back to Brixham.

Group leader Sue Coomber said: ‘We went with high expectations, yet the trip still managed to far surpass what we’d hoped it would achieve.

‘The crew were exceptionally good at encouraging and teaching young people. As our voyage progressed, everyone blossomed in confidence and the group became a real team, both when sailing and ‘off duty’. It was an absolute joy to see them develop and I am extremely proud of them all.’

The club expressed thanks to the companies, organisations and individuals who generously supported the trip. The cadets helped raise funds for the trip by bag packing at Tavistock Tesco and Morrisons and made cakes to sell at the Bere Ferrers community shop.