Jubilee Sailing Trust

Jubilee Sailing Trust is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which owns and until 2019 operated two square-rigged three-masted barques, the STS Lord Nelson and the SV Tenacious.

Lord Nelson front, Tenacious background.

Aims

The Jubilee Sailing Trust, based in Southampton, is a sail training charity registered with the Charity Commission.[1] Founded in 1978 with money from the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II fund by Christopher Rudd, a keen sailor, its aims are: "To integrate both able-bodied and disabled persons through Tall Ship sailing".[2] The JST gets everyone on board involved in sailing the ships to the extent of their abilities, focusing on what people can do, instead of what they can't.

Ships

In early pilot schemes including voyages in the square-rigged vessels the Marques, TS Royalist and (between 1982 and 1985) Søren Larsen, it was established that square-riggers were suitable for fulfilling the Trust's aims. Subsequently the Trust commissioned the building of the Lord Nelson (designed by Colin Mudie), which sailed on her maiden voyage from Southampton to Cherbourg on 17 October 1986, and the Tenacious (to a design by Tony Castro), which made her maiden voyage on 1 September 2000, also from Southampton.[3]

STS Lord Nelson and SV Tenacious were pioneers in the world of tall ships. They are the only two vessels which have been designed and purpose-built to allow people of all physical abilities to sail side-by-side on equal terms.[4] There are 8 wheelchair cabins with two bunks each, with the remaining accommodation being 'dorm-style'. All beds are fixed single bunks. Both vessels are equipped with additional measures to allow for disabled people to sail, including: a speaking compass, visual and tactile alarms around the ship to supplement emergency announcements, disabled toilets, signage and diagrams in Braille, power-assisted steering for the ship's wheel, wheelchair lifts around the ship, wider passageways, and tactile markers to assist the visually impaired in finding their way around.

Activities

Each year the JST takes around 2,000 adults to sea, both able-bodied and physically disabled. Each ship can sail with up to 40 voyage crew, half of whom may be physically disabled and are guided through each task on board by eight or nine permanent crew members (professional seafarers) and three or more volunteer crew. The ships sail around the United Kingdom, Western Europe, the Canary Islands and the Caribbean.

From October 2012 to September 2014, STS Lord Nelson sailed around the world in the first JST circumnavigation, visiting 30 countries spanning all seven continents.[5] In October 2013, STS Lord Nelson participated in the International Fleet Review 2013 in Sydney, Australia.

Cutbacks after financial review

In July 2019, the JST announced that due to financial stress there would be cutbacks ahead. Despite raising more than £1m in five days, it announced STS Lord Nelson would cease its sailing programme by October. There was a further planned review of organisational structures to reduce core costs, with the intent to achieve a "stronger financial footing".[6]

See also

References
  1. Charity Commission. Jubilee Sailing Trust, registered charity no. 277810. accessed 3 October 2019
  2. About Us: The Jubilee Sailing Trust jst.org.uk, accessed 7 December 2018
  3. Our History: The pioneering early days jst.org.uk, accessed 7 January 2019
  4. "Setting sail for accessible adventure on the SV Tenacious". Lonely Planet. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  5. Lord Nelson, wheelchair-accessible tall ship, sails into Halifax "48 crew members on the tail end of a 2-year trip around the world", cbc.ca/news 29 July 2014, accessed 7 December 2018
  6. Jubilee Sailing Trust to decommission tall ship after financial review 23 July 2019, www.bbc.co.uk, accessed 31 October 2019
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