A Message From Big Boat Bob - A Tall Ships Adventure

Published 14:35 on 30 Dec 2024

Dear All,

For me the last few years have been an exciting journey of big boat sailing and sailing adventures with fellow club members, The Tall ships youth trust provide a safe and responsible entry into cruiser sailing and very local, Based in Portsmouth at reasonable cost on their 72ft Challenger yachts,

Every Voyage has a story to tell,

Last November2023 Big Phil Guimaraens and I sailed back from Dublin in ahead of a named storm with 55 knot gust and incredible boat speeds from a steel mono hull more akin to a multi hull,

Braving the Irish sea and the Atlantic fuelled by copious pints of The black stuff we set of for Weymouth,

Feeling rather green on the way and feeding the dolphins down as far as Newquay Cornwall, Only to find the Mate by pure chance was a distant cousin that Phil never knew existed.

A fund raising tea swindle was held on new year's day providing hot drinks and snacks to the club's sea swimmers with profits to Tall ships,

February was the main fundraising Quiz night raising a respectable £1500.00 plus for both events.

The Tsyt Round the island fund raising race was in March, Team Worthing having got off to a bad start caused by ripping the stay sail in a cleat, We did manage to catch up with the fleet but not enough to finish first.

Moving forward into 14th December 24 Ten intrepid sailors from the club braved a day sail, The weather was in our favour with sunshine and a gentle breeze, To make things interesting we had a little race to Bramble buoy in the Solent and back, I was particularly please to see Young Adam, Arthur and Alice on the helm and handling the boat on a beat to windward, helping with the sweating, grinding and trimming the sails with confidence, A testament to their sailing instructors at Worthing sailing club, (see the main article by Chris Burk).

With Christmas looming we will be running the fundraising Tea swindle for the new years day swim and back by popular request the Quiz night on the 22nd of February prior to our Round the island sail again on the 14 March 2025.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all club members who have supported the sailing activities and fundraising for the tall ships youth trust I have organised over recent years,

I hope I it broadens your sailing experiences & horizons for a new adventure.

Below is a reduced summary of the annual Tall ships trust news letter.

Wishing you all a happy Christmas and safe sailing new year.

Bob Hewitt.

A huge thank you from Tsyt.

Welcome to your final update of the year from Tall Ships Youth Trust (TSYT)! We'd like to say a huge thank you for all your support this year.
Thanks to your amazing support and commitment, we've taken an incredible 1,220 young people on transformational voyages at sea, Helping them build essential life skills, like resilience, teamwork and confidence. Over 80% of our young people came from disadvantaged backgrounds, Receiving bursary support to enable their experience, Supporting them to change their lives at sea and empower them on their unique journey into adulthood. None of this would have been possible without our loyal supporters.
As we look ahead to 2025, we're thrilled to recap the incredible success of our Big Christmas Challenge earlier this month and show you how you can support our vital youth development work in the new year by taking on the Brighton Marathon 2025,

These funds will help us complete vital upgrades to our Challenger yachts, ensuring they remain comfortable and fit for purpose, so we can continue to offer more unforgettable voyage experiences to young people living with disadvantage across the UK.

Thanks to your generosity, we raised an incredible £37,673 in just 7 days! This includes both online and offline donations, and exceeds our target of £30,000 by £7,673, making this our most successful Big Give Christmas Challenge ever!
Including Gift Aid, we raised a whopping £42,529!
We'll also share some exciting voyage offers, including the Solent racing weekend and a super early bird deal with 20% off our 2025/26 Winter Sun voyages in the Canary Islands.

Visit Us at, www.tallships.org