Since 2021, we’ve sent groups of young people on sea voyages to experience the excitement and pride of making a 10-day journey under sail. The goal is to help young people at the start of their adult lives develop attitudes and skills for quality jobs in maritime and other industries. With the support of local sponsors, we have been able to do this consecutively for five years.
1 Expedition 2026
2 Completed voyages
3 How venturers benefit
4 What parents say
5 Sponsorship
6 Fundraising by venturers
Expedition 2026
The Trust is again sending 10 young people aged 16 to 17 on a free adventure in summer 2026 with Morvargh Sailing Project. Helen Mary R (57ft) leaves Fowey on Saturday 1 August, destination unknown, returning on Monday 10 August. To apply, go to https://sailadventure.co.uk/voyages/voyage/Roseland-Youth-Sailing-Trust-2026
We will be approaching schools and colleges in Cornwall in spring 2026 to invite applications. Meanwhile, if you’d like to find out about sponsoring a young person on this voyage, please contact Juliette Leach at juliette@ryst.org.uk
Completed voyages
In 2021 we sent 11 young people on a 10-day voyage to the Scillies on Tall Ship Maybe.
In 2022 we repeated the exercise with 14 more teenagers, this time east to Hope Cove.
In 2023 we sent another 14 venturers on TS Maybe from Falmouth to A Coruna in the Tall Ships race to Spain.
In 2024 we sent 10 teenagers on the Helen Mary R with Morvargh Sailing Project to Guernsey and France.
And 2025 saw our second voyage with Morvargh Sailing Project to Falmouth, Roscoff and Tréguier.
A voyage report is produced after each expedition and shared with venturers, parents and sponsors:
The Best 10 Days of My Life (2021)
Into the Sunrise (2022)
Escorted by Dolphins (2023)
VIDEO: Team Maybe 2023 on ITV News
Profound and Utterly Unforgettable (2024)
White Light Across the Water (2025)
How venturers benefit
Trips are designed to be thrilling, challenging and transformative— encouraging the young adults to think ambitiously about what they can achieve. The first expedition was described by one as ‘the best 10 days of my life’.
Venturers learn all sorts of maritime skills, but the most important learning comes from living together and working as a team: having to do one’s bit in a watch system and support others, even when exhausted. Overcoming challenges leads to a new self-confidence and self-belief: that they can do anything they put their mind to.
For Bea, who participated in the 2021 expedition, the voyage was her first time in a boat, but it set in motion a series of exciting sailing adventures. Bea has been paid crew on expeditions in British waters and abroad, from the remote Island of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides to Portugal. She says ‘I love it. Every day is a new experience and I’m always learning. The people I’ve been able to work with are amazing and we always have fun.’
Josh, who also took part in the 2021 expedition, was a keen dinghy racer who learned to sail with RYST but had never been out of sight of land until the voyage to the Scillies. After that he did delivery trips on a Volvo 70 and he worked most of his gap year as a deckhand on the 42-metre classic gaff schooner Mariette, joining in time to win the 2023 Richard Mille Cup Regatta and then sailing off to the Mediterranean.
Sam, who was in the 2022 expedition, followed up the experience by taking part in the Aspire 360 challenge, a seven-week voyage sailing 1945 nautical miles around Britain with Morvargh Sailing Trust.
For Ruby, who sailed to Spain in the 2023 Tall Ships expedition, the trip confirmed her ambition to join the Royal Navy. Her sponsor Cornwall Marine Academy helped her apply. Her experience of the voyage stood her in good stead for the application and interview and she has since been accepted.
Now in her Phase 2 Training at RNAS Culdrose, she’s learning to be an Aircraft Handler and loving it.
Ruby says: “The opportunity to be part of the Tall Ships with support from Roseland Youth Sailing Trust and my sponsor Cornwall Marine Network has been invaluable. I loved the voyage on TS Maybe, being onboard and experiencing life at sea. I enjoyed the teamwork, keeping watch and learning navigation skills.
After the voyage my sponsor put me in touch with Lieutenant Commander Trevor Brookes, Resident Naval Officer, who kindly gave me further advice and support during my application process.
I really appreciate all of the opportunities that were given to me and feel they have helped me pursue my career and achieve my goals.”
Sponsored by Classic Cottages, Erin sailed on TS Maybe in August 2023’s Tall Ships Race to Spain. When she got back, she said: “I have discovered a love of sailing that I didn’t know I had, as I’ve never sailed before.” Now she’s got her own boat, Seaspray II, and is about to start restoring it.
What parents say
“My daughter came back elated after 10 days on the open seas, having spent most of it on deck in the sun and wind. She made great friendships, learned to live at close quarters with people she had never met before, worked as part of a close-knit team and revived her love of sailing, and indeed of adventure.”
“It is hard to express just how much young people of today need experiences like this. Resilience is a rare commodity these days and RYST, along with the generosity of the sponsors, have enabled our youngsters to develop valuable life skills.”
“In 20 years in the marine industry I have seen first-hand the value of sailing as a team-building and confidence-boosting tool. Watching the crew of nice but nervous individuals get on the boat and then meeting the confident, bonded team that got off the bus was a real pleasure. For all kids that lived through the lockdown at a crucial time of social development, these opportunities are incredibly beneficial.”
“I asked him the simple question: would you go again if you had the chance? Without hesitation it was a resounding ‘Yes!’ I noticed a change in him on his return home. He has always had confidence and an ability to chat to anyone, but there seemed a new level of maturity. Thank you again for giving him this amazing opportunity.”
Sponsorship
The Offshore Sailing programme is funded through the generosity of mainly local organizations and individuals, each of whom pays for a venturer to take part, so places aboard and any transport costs are free to venturers. A big thank you to:
Estate agents H Tiddy, accountants Phillips Frith, St Just in Roseland Parish Council, and St Mawes Sailing Club, who have supported all five expeditions.
Flushing Sailing Club, Frost Builders and St Mawes Pier & Harbour Company, who have supported three.
Classic Cottages, who have supported two.
Superyacht Charities, CAD Architects and Rotary Club of St Austell, who supported the first.
Cornwall Community Foundation, Wing of St Mawes and Beverley & Nathaniel Gee, who supported the second.
Challenge Consulting, Cornwall Marine Network & Academy and Falmouth Harbour, who supported the third.
If you’d like to consider sending a young person on the adventure of a lifetime, please contact Juliette Leach at juliette@ryst.org.uk.
Fund-raising by venturers
As a way of saying thank you, venturers are encouraged to raise funds, not to pay for their own place aboard, which is covered by their sponsor, but to help ensure that others are given similar opportunities to experience adventure.
For example, in a two-day 200-mile fund-raising cycle trip around all 20 sailing clubs in Cornwall, ‘the two Joshes’ raised enough to sponsor two venturers in 2022. Bea gave up ice cream for six months.
Oliver took part in the 11 Tors Challenge on Dartmoor. Daisy completed the Eden Project half-marathon. Lotte completed a five-hour plastic and litter pick around Mylor Harbour. Erin swam out to and around Gull Rock in Portreath. Jacob donated the money he was given for his 18th birthday. Dan took part in the Lions Club of Bodmin’s Ten Tors Charity Walk. Adam climbed the equivalent of both of Cornwall’s highest points at the Tide Climbing Centre. Suki went swimming in the sea every day in October. Rose hiked up Snowdon and Ben Nevis. And Luca walked the whole of the Cornish coast path from Bude to Plymouth.
