STUDENTS CELEBRATE EXTREME SAILING & WATERSPORTS CHALLENGE AT AWARDS CEREMONY

MORE than a hundred Cornish students celebrated an amazing learning experience as they collected awards for their nautical achievements at a special ceremony last week.

Round-the-world yachtsman and Clipper Ventures founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston congratulated the young people on their achievements in a video appearance and said: “You have all accomplished something you can be immensely proud of and can take with you for the rest of your lives.”

The 125 teenagers all had their wits tested against the elements off Cornwall’s coast last year, either sailing a 60ft global Clipper yacht or entering a challenging programme of kayaking, coasteering and snorkelling.

Cornwall Marine Network’s Marine Academy teamed up with global yacht race company Clipper Ventures and Lusty Glaze’s Adventure Centre to offer the pioneering week-long confidence-boosting course.

And it proved so successful that all the teenagers – whether unemployed or from eight of Cornwall’s secondary schools and training centres - sailed or paddled away with a maritime recognised qualification to put on their CV.

As well as boosting their self-esteem and team-building skills, the course is designed to hone literacy and numeracy as students learn to navigate, plot charts and maintain logs.

The scheme was funded through Cornwall Council’s European Social Funded Convergence Freestyle Project and delivered by Cornwall Marine Network and Clipper Ventures in collaboration with the Learning Partnership for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Students described the highs and lows of their endurance challenge at the awards ceremony at Penwith College, Penzance. Dislikes included cold showers, sleeping in wet bunks and feeling seasick. But they all talked excitedly of the confidence, life-skills and incredible memories acquired from stepping out of their comfort zones and working together.

Penwith student Georgia Jenkins, 17, poignantly summed up her experience of life on board, saying: “Each day we grew closer and closer until at the end, if you didn’t know any different, you would have thought we were a family.

“I would like to thank everyone who made this once in a lifetime opportunity possible for us. It was one of the most fun weeks of our lives.”

Student Colin Wheeler, 14, of Treviglas School in Newquay, said: “Before this course I found school pretty boring and was at risk of being kicked out. But sailing as part of a crew taught me that everything’s not all about me and I need to let others have a go and not be greedy.”

Julie Fellows, director of CMN’s Marine Academy, said: “The students selected are all identified as having potential and being able to benefit from the programme. Perhaps they need more self-esteem or confidence.

“It is not an easy option. It is hugely challenging, while rewarding. The change in the young people at the end is tangible. The skills and experience stay with them when they go back into their academic and personal life. And to have a qualification in the bag when they go to sit their GCSEs is a real confidence boost.”

The nautical “classroom” and is designed to help young people re-engage in learning, gain an insight into the marine industry and improve their prospects of employment. A further 200 Cornish students are due to participate in the venture between March and May this year.

Commenting on the Clipper programme, its recruitment manager David Cusworth said: “This exercise has been an exceptional success. The groups faced their fears and overcame obstacles to achieve something memorable and remarkable.

“The training they received was the same that we give to people joining the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. It is technically challenging stuff and was not watered down because of their age. None of them had ever done anything like this before. The students have done themselves and their schools proud.”

Mark Williams, ESF Director for the LSC South West, stressed: “Too many of our young people lack any sense of career direction and, without a goal to aim for, they lose motivation and interest. This programme, the result of real partnership in working, has been designed to specifically address these problems.”

In agreement, Penwith College lecturer Simon Horsfall said: “The students benefitted immensely. Many of the skills they learnt such as tolerance and communication form an integral part of life, and this is reflected in some fairly impressive changes to their attitude. “What we have seen is a change in aspirations. Hopefully it will give them confidence to pursue a worthwhile career, as well as showing them the various careers available within the marine industry.”

March 2010