Local St.Maarten youth invited to sail on Tallship in Norway

The Maritime School of the West Indies, in cooperation with the St.Maarten-St.Martin Classic Yacht Regatta Foundation,
is offering a "once in a lifetime" and exiting adventure on board a Tall Ship to local St.Maarten youth.
The initiative is sponsored by Sail Training International and Canadian Sailing Expeditions.
Two native Sint Maarten youngsters ( one girl and one boy ) in between the age of 15 and 25 will be given a chance to sail on board as crew on the 190 ft (62 meter) sail training ship “Christian Radich” during the upcoming Tall Ships Races and sail from Bergen in Norway to Den Helder in Holland.
Best of all: no costs are involved for the participants, even the airfares from St.Maarten to Holland and further on to Norway are paid as well as return tickets.
Sail Training International is coming up with 2000 British Pounds as sponsorship and Canadian Sailing Expeditions will pay the rest of the costs.
The Tall Ships' Races are held every summer in European waters.
Each year between 70 and 100 vessels from 15-20 countries, crewed by some 5-6,000 young people from over 30 countries worldwide, take part in this unique event that combines four days of activities in each port with racing or cruising-in-company between ports.
During the race series the young crews get the chance to gain experience by sailing with their contemporaries from other countries while facing the physical and emotional challenges that only the ocean can provide.
A 'Tall Ship' is not necessarily one of the glamorous square-riggers. Entry is open to any monohull sailing vessel of more than 9.14m waterline length, provided that at least 50 percent of the crew are aged between 15 and 25 years and that the vessel meets Sail Training International's safety equipment requirements.
“Christian Radich” is one of Norway’s well known sailing ambassadors.
The ship functioned as a sail training ship from the start in 1937 to 1998. Now the ship acts as training ship for the Norwegian Navy during the winter season. During the summer period, the ship offers voyages for school classes, arrangements for companies and private parties, and participates in the Tall Ships’ Races.
With 1.360 m² of sail, almost 9 kilometers of rope and a 37,7 meters tall main mast, “Christian Radich” has proven hard to beat on the regattas.
The famous deck is an attractive arena for entertainment in port.
Christian Radich is a dry ship and no alcohol is allowed to be consumed on board during the races.
There is a kiosk onboard where one can buy duty free cigarettes, chocolate and soft drinks. You can buy your duty free quota of beer wine and spirits on the last evening at sea before arrival at your final destination. There is also a souvenir shop onboard where they sell sweaters, t-shirts, postcards etc. as well as a limited selection of toilet articles.
She is a regular participant in The Tall Ships' Races and has been first on corrected time on several occasions. The Tall Ships Race from Bergen in Norway to Den Helder in Holland is expected to be a hectic and exciting experience and again Christian Radich is among the favorites.
Den Helder is an old navy and shipping town.
A spectacular final festival is prepared in Den Helder for the Tall Ships`Races 2008.
During The Tall Ships' Races 2008, more than 90 vessels of the Sail Training International fleet will find a vintage berth in and around Oude Rijkswerf Willemsoord, once the ancient Napoleonic dockyard of the Royal Netherlands Navy, now fully restored as a nautical theme park.
Offering museums, dry-docks, cinemas, restaurants and a marina in a beautifully restored historical setting, Willemsoord is a maritime monument of truly European stature.
Veerle Rolus, principal of the Maritime School explained:
"This is a chance we want to give to local St.Maarten youth. We work a lot with the visiting mega yachts but more and more local people are also seeing that there is a future in the marine sector and this is an excellent opportunity that we are now able to offer the local kids.
As this is a real sail training ship we don't even request that participants need to be holders of the basic STCW'95 certificate which is mandatory by law if you work on a vessel with paying passengers.
We know that many local youth have a hard time to come up with the money to pay for those courses, so if we can help them in other ways we will do so."
Jan Roosens from the Classic Yacht Regatta organization ads: " We've been in contact with the Sail Training Organization for years and have tried to bring those magnificent vessels to St.Maarten even long time before we started with the Classic Regatta here.
There is a lot of interest from the STI organization now and one day we will hopefully have one leg of the Tall Ship Trans Atlantic Races arriving in St.Maarten.
We will have for the first time a special Tall Ship Day during the next St.Maarten-St.Martin Classic Yacht Regatta in January 2009 on the Saturday of the regatta for which we have already a few International registrations of big tall ships.
The first one who has signed up is a 245 ft Tall ship owned by Canadian Sailing Expeditions.
We will release information about the Tall Ship event in St.Maarten during the next days."

Program for Norway:

On Monday 11 August we will board the ship in Bergen, where all the ships for The Tall Ships’ Races will be berthed alongside.
Bergen is one of the world’s most beautiful natural harbors and a city of long maritime history.
A city of wooden houses, museums and markets and with a unique sense of place.
The programme will begin with safety and deck instructions, followed by the Parade of Sail and the Race start for the second race of The Tall Ships’ Races on August 11.
The main part of the voyage is the race so the crew and trainees have to cooperate closely on board: watch keeping, climbing the yards, setting the sails, steer the vessel and so on.
But every day there is enough time left for a fun exchange programme when you can get to know each other and learn about the different cultures.
It is our aim to gather more than 16 European nationalities on board Christian Radich.
It will be a great opportunity to make great new friends, have a good time and work together for another victory!

On Wednesday 20 August the ship will come alongside in Den Helder. Two days of sports and cultural activities lay ahead culminating with the Prize Giving Ceremony and the Crew Party.
After the adventure you will almost certainly want to keep in contact with your new friends and make arrangements for next year!

To have a chance in being selected to travel to Norway and participate in the Tall Ship Races the youth candidates must meet the following minimum conditions:
Be holder of a Netherlands Antilles Passport ( only ID is not enough )
Be born in St.Maarten and actually live here.
Be in between 15 and 25 years old, girl or boy ( Parents authorization needed if less than 18 years old )
Be able to swim ( you never know :)
Speak English ( Dutch and/or other languages is a plus.)
Don't get seasick.
No drugs user.
Be available to fly to Holland around August 10 and return around August 21, 2008. ( Exact dates will be provided later )
All candidates must make a motivation letter and bring it in person to the information meeting at Holland House on Thursday July 3th, 2008
at 6.00 pm.
Qualified candidates will be selected by a jury.

For additional information please e-mail: info AT MaritimeSchool.net
or call 5231209

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