Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
Big thanks this week to Josh, Lauren, Lynne, Susanna, Caitlin Neall-Johnston, Julian Ware and Robert Lawrence. The team has done an inventory of the oilskins and, along with the bunk curtains, they are now off the boat for cleaning and repair. Robert has been bleeding the radiators which is obviously important for keeping the workforce warm over the winter! And Lauren has been doing chart corrections. They covered 141 nautical miles and twelve people earned RYA Competent Crew certificates (the other three already had it). Big thanks to sea staff Diggory, Brigid Stoney, Lucinda Neall, Martyn Powe, Julian Ware, Anna Owen – and special congratulations to Caitlin Neall-Johnston who completed her bosun assessment.
Please come to one of our in-season maintenance days! We can use both skilled and unskilled volunteers, and it all helps to keep the boat in good condition and to try and avoid losing any time on voyages to maintenance issues. Sally has been involved with the charity for twenty years – almost the entire span of OYT South’s existence as an independent charity, and a third of our entire existence since the Ocean Youth Club was founded in 1960. She always gave the most steadfast and reliable support when the charity faced challenges, and she played a huge part in the best of times as well.OYT South’s AGM will be held on Saturday 4 th November in Southampton, followed by a curry in the Coriander Lounge (not the same restaurant as last year). We will aim to combine this with a refit weekend as we’ll need lots of help moving gear off the boat. More details to follow but please put the date in your diary for now! You can also send a message to [email protected] if you want to put something in Sally’s leaving card. We announced a couple of weeks ago that our highly popular Staff Skipper, Diggory Rose, very sadly has to leave us at the end of this season. An excellent day, good vibe and great fun. The real bonus was learning about OYT South and the good work you do. Keep it up!” Ocean Youth Trust South is a registered charity (no. 1079959) which grew out of the Ocean Youth Club, founded in 1960. Ocean Youth Trust South has existed as an independent charity since 2000.
The current Prolific, built in 2005, is a successor to the original Prolific, built in 1891 as a Grimsby sailing trawler – a 69-foot cutter-rigged ketch. We sail with up to 15 young people at a time, as well as up to eight adult staff and volunteers. The young people may come as small groups or individuals prepared to mix with others, or they may come with a full group booking of 15, which can include adult leaders such as teachers or youth workers. This is not always necessary, but many groups bring two leaders and up to 13 young people; and some – particularly when the young people have complex special needs – bring six young people and six adults for one-to-one support. Thank you for showing us around the Solent and explaining the amazing work you all do. Amazing day, great day learning new skills and meeting new people. Keep up the good work!” The wind died and they made their way to anchor in Swanage where they found dolphins – just visible in this photo:They anchored by the North Channel between Hurst and Milford, where they were able to go ashore and had a beach BBQ: Big thanks to sea staff Diggory, Lauren, Sara, Martin Bayfield, Susanna Paynter, Andy Royse and Rob Jelley. My favourite part has been spending time with my crew and spending time with the staff members on board.” Family descendants of the original owners and crews of the first Prolific still live in and around Halleviksstrand and Orust. In 2002 interested people in the community formed a group called Navigare Necesse Est (NNE) (some of whom were 1970’s Swedish ex-Admirals Cup sailors) to raise funds to recreate a new Prolific for sail training to keep alive traditional seafaring skills on the west coast of Sweden.
We work with around 450 young people each year, taking them to sea as active crew members in a purpose-built sail training vessel. We have come to be recognised as one of the leaders in the field of sail training, and in recent years our vessel has almost always been filled to capacity – and with a waiting list for sailing volunteers. In due course there will be a chance to thank Diggory for all his efforts this season and for creating such a happy atmosphere on board, and you can contribute to his leaving present here. But meanwhile we need to search for the right person to build on his legacy and take the charity forward. There is a detailed job advertisement here including job description, person specification, timescales, salary and more. OYT South’s dedicated charity day is TOMORROW – Saturday 2 nd September – and we have a stand so please go and say hello to our team. Also this Saturday 2nd September, one of OYT South’s vice-patrons, writer and broadcaster Paul Heiney, will be giving a talk from 1pm to 1.30pm in the Events Marquee in the race village on how he sailed the Atlantic single-handed. His message is, “if I can do it, so can you. Your next big adventure starts here!” But he has promised to get in a mention for OYT South so please do come along to hear him and give him your support. You may remember that at the Gosport training weekend in February, we announced that Tom Knight was the winner of the Gipsy Moth trophy as our Young Volunteer of the Year – but he wasn’t able to be there at the time to collect the trophy (which is a mounted section of the mizzen mast of the record-breaking yacht). However, Tom was on board for the training weekend and here he is collecting the trophy from the previous winner, Sara Abdur.
Our charitable work
In December 2018, Ocean Youth Trust South’s Staff Skipper, Peta Koczy, won the title of Young Sail Trainer of the Year 2018. This is a worldwide award for a young professional sail trainer under the age of 25, to encourage and recognise high-performing individuals who deliver sail training to young p volunteer sea staff bookings – including people who were told on voyages this year that they should think about returning as volunteers A voyage with OYT South really can transform a young person’s life – and it can have an impact in so many different ways. This video tells JP’s story:
MDL Marinas is absolutely thrilled that Ocean Youth Trust South has succeeded in their acquisition of the new sail training vessel, Prolific. OYT South has such a huge influence on young people’s lives, providing a valuable experience for them at a crucial age. Over the years MDL has seen many young people grow into outstanding adults and many of them cite their experience afloat as their turning point. The acquisition of Prolific will allow OYT South to continue their good work for many years to come and MDL Marinas looks forward to looking after the boat whilst she’s in the Solent.” International Paint heartily congratulates Ocean Youth Trust South on its acquisition of the sail training vessel Prolific. Prolific will inject a new dynamic into Ocean Youth Trust South and create even more opportunities for young people to benefit from the life-changing experience of training at sea. International Paint and the whole of the AkzoNobel Community look forward to continuing our longstanding support for Ocean Youth Trust and the superb work it does for children and young people.”Several of the Amber crew were very focussed on using the voyage to develop skills that will help them move into employment and independent living and at the end of the voyage remarked on having practised “Trying different ways to deal with a situation”; “ Teamwork to get jobs done”; “Keeping myself busy to take mind off things”; “Negotiating organisation of jobs”; “Communication when doing jobs”; “Doing jobs for people who did jobs for me”; “ Doing a knot wrong and learning from it”; “Relaying instructions and how to do stuff”; and “Feeling confident around new people”. If you’re missing refit, or feeling guilty because you weren’t around to help much, please come to one of our in-season maintenance days!
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