June 8, 2007 - The American Sail Training Association (ASTA) is pleased to announce the recipients of the first competitive subgrants under ASTA’s Tall Ship Youth Adventure Program. ASTA’s program is supported by a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Program (OJJDP) of the United States Department of Justice.

Four sail training organizations were selected to receive grants via two competitive funding opportunities.  Twenty-five organizations from across the continent submitted proposals for improving the prospects of at-risk youth through challenging experiences involving tall ships.  The field of proposals was rich with excellent ideas, rigorous programs, innovative assessment tools and sustainable program plans.  ASTA convened an independent sub-grant review panel to score, rank, and select the best-qualified proposals for funding. Review panel members included tall ship captains, education specialists, education researchers in institutions of higher education, and a professional evaluator at the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families.

The Providence Maritime Heritage Foundation will receive $25,000 and three more ASTA member organizations, BaySail, Bay City, Michigan; Call of the Sea, Sausalito, California; and Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation, Norfolk, Virginia will  each receive $10,000 via ASTA’s Tall Ship Youth Adventure Program.

The grant will allow the Providence Maritime Heritage Foundation to provide shipboard experiences for thirty to forty Rhode Island students in grades 7 – 12 on the Continental Sloop Providence, the Official Tall Ship of Rhode Island.  During the first two weeks of August 2007 aboard Providence, students will learn teamwork and collaboration skills while participating in the hands-on activity of sailing a tall ship.  The Providence crew and two Middletown, Rhode Island teachers will design and implement activities which will help build students’ self-confidence and increase their leadership skills.

The BaySail organization owns and operates the schooners Appledore IV and Appledore V delivering sail training and environmental education youth programs on the Great Lakes for students ages fourteen to eighteen.  Their program includes seamanship training and treatment counseling. 

Call of the Sea operates the schooner Seaward and will provided shipboard programs for high school girls.  During the six-week overnight voyages, the program will expose the student sailors to tall ship sailing.  While at sea, students continue taking their academic classes, collecting oceanographic data, analyzing literature, and studying the arts of sailing.

In June and August 2007 the Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation will provide 72 students the opportunity to sail the 157-ton vessel, the schooner Virginia.  The Youth Sail Training program aboard Schooner Virginia includes team building activities and “character adventure” experiences for the young tall ship sailors, setting them on a potential new course in life.

Otto Loggers, ASTA Education Director said, “The grant funds will be used to energize at-risk youth in a ship-board environment where they’ll have a unique chance to feel proud of themselves.  It will also help shore-based organizations grasp the transformative power of sail training, especially on young people.  ASTA will use this program as an opportunity to distill and refine best practices for this cadre of youth in an at-sea situation.”

ASTA’s Tall Ship Youth Adventure Program also helps fund sail training programs in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City.  Mr. Loggers said, “These programs to provide an “outside-the-box” experience for the trainees.  They bond with their shipmates through working together on demanding but rewarding tasks, and each has the chance to take responsibility for the others, as a leader.  And every ship is a “mini-society,” where socialization skills are at a premium.  The tall ship experience builds both social coping skills and self-confidence, as each student feels the pride in grasping real-world, hands-on skills.  A key goal of the program is to raise the awareness of the benefit and power of sail training.”

Meghan Wren, ASTA Principal Investigator and board member said, “All told, well over 300 under-privileged and at-risk youth from all three US coasts (including the Great Lakes) will have a tall ship experience that has been shown to change lives for the better.  ASTA is very proud of the extraordinary work of its member vessels and is excited to support their efforts to provide these once-in-a-lifetime experiences to kids that deserve a chance to shape their lives for the better.”

Michael Rauworth, ASTA’s Chairman, said, “Sailing a tall ship successfully is a real — and respectable — challenge.  When young people rise to that challenge, it’s a potent dose of self-worth — all the more so, because it’s not cheaply won.  Shipmates help shipmates rise to the challenge, and this builds strong personal bonds.  The magic of sail training is seeing young folks coming home from a tall ship experience with an abiding belief in themselves.”

Founded in 1973 in Newport, RI, ASTA is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization whose mission is “to encourage character building through sail training, promote sail training in North America, and support education under sail.” With more than 250 tall ships and sail training vessels, representing more than 26 US states and 30 countries sailing around the globe, ASTA fosters youth education, leadership development and the preservation of North American maritime heritage. ASTA organizes the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® annual series of sail training races, rallies and maritime festivals, hosts an annual conference on sail training and tall ships, and publishes SAIL TALL SHIPS! A Directory of Sail Training and Adventure at Sea.  ASTA also raises money for scholarships, and administers grants directly supporting youth education and leadership development programs that shape young people’s lives and build tomorrow’s leaders.