For immediate release
For further information contact:
Corinne Hitching
Sail Training International
Email: Corinne.Hitching@sailtraininginternational.org
Tel +44 (0)2392 586367
Fax +44 (0)2393 584661
                or
Dr Ken McCulloch
The Moray House School of Education
University of Edinburgh
Email: Ken.McCulloch@ed.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)131 651 6184
Fax: +44 (0)131 651 6111

Sail Training International, August 5, 2005: A major international study into the value and effectiveness of the sail training experience for young people will be undertaken by the University of Edinburgh . It has been commissioned by Sail Training International and its member national organisations around the world.

The study will provide a body of data and conclusions applicable to most of the range of mainstream sail training for young people internationally as well as specific data on, and for the exclusive benefit of, the individual vessel operators participating in the study. It will also form the basis for the development of self-help tools that can be used by any individual sail training operator to evaluate their own programmes, strengths and weaknesses. Sail Training International has defined this as a key goal of the project, as well as helping to decide where and on what to focus further research in the future.

A pilot study will be conducted this year, with field-work for the full study next year in time for results to be discussed at the Sail Training International Annual Conference in November 2006. The main study will involve qualitative research on up to three voyages on each of 15 sail training vessels representing the mainstream of sail training for young people in Europe, North America and Australasia . The general report on the study findings will be made available to sail training operators worldwide. Each of the participating 15 vessel operators will be given a confidential report on their operation and individual consultation with the research team.

“The enormous diversity of sail training internationally means that no single piece of research will provide all the answers; but this study will make a good start. It will also lead to the development of ‘self-help' tools to enable sail training operators to study their own effectiveness, as well identify areas for further general research” said Nigel Rowe, president and chairman of Sail Training International. “Next year we celebrate the 50 th anniversary of the first ever race for sail training Tall Ships. Commissioning this research is our anniversary gift to the international sail training community.”

“This project builds on earlier research we have done on sail training in the UK and on educational expeditions in remote regions. We have discussed our proposed approach with a number of sail training operators and are confident what we have planned is very practical and will lead to a better understanding of what works in sail training and why. Only limited research has been conducted in this area and this will be the largest and the first international project ever on the sail training experience,” said Dr. Ken McCulloch of The Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh .

“We invited some 50 institutions around the world to submit proposals for this study. We received six from Europe, North America and Australasia . We chose the University of Edinburgh because their proposal best met the goals we had set and they have a good research team with sail training experience,” said Doug Prothero, Sail Training International Trustee, chairman of the Canadian Sail Training Association, and chairman of Sail Training International's research steering group.

For more information on the project go to www.sailtraininginternational.org , click on the ‘International Research' hot button on the Home Page.

Sail Training International is a registered charity. Its purpose is the development and education of young people through sail training. It achieves this purpose through conferences and seminars, publications and research, and the organisation of races and other events for sail training Tall Ships. Its members are the national/representative sail training organisations of Australia, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA.

The University of Edinburgh is a leading international centre of academic excellence, and one of the largest and most successful research universities. The Moray House School of Education has a long established reputation for research covering many areas of education.

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