TS Royalist

TS "Royalist" is a brig owned and operated as a sail training ship by the Sea Cadet Corps of the United Kingdom.

History

"Royalist" was designed by Colin Mudie RDI and launched in 1971 by The Princess Anne. In 1992, "Royalist" was taken out of the water for a refit, termed as a "Mid-Life Upgrade". Various facilities were improved, and she got a new coat of paint. "Royalist" was re-launched by Princess Anne, (now the Princess Royal). She is built of steel, with an overall length of 29 metres (97 feet) (not including the bowsprit, which adds about 8 metres onto her overall length), and has a traditional square-rigged brig layout.

Crew

Almost every week of the year, 24 Sea Cadets, Combined Cadet Force (Navy) and a single week of Air cadets from all over the UK join the ship and spend the whole week on board working as part of the team. Many different parts of the UK are visited, sailing from her home berth in Gosport to Southampton, Poole and the Isle of Wight.

Every week, there are two berths made available to Adults (18+) as Watch Officers.

In addition to the temporary crew, there are also 6 permanent members of crew. These are the Captain, the Sailing Master, the Engineer, the Bosun, the Coxswain, and perhaps most importantly, the Cook. The former 3 members of crew are officers of the RNR, while the latter are Senior Rates of the SCC.

Opportunities

Trips abroad are also taken regularly, such as to the Channel Islands and to France, Belgium and in some cases, the Netherlands and Germany. Also, during the Tall Ships race period, "Royalist" can visit other countries of Europe.

For around four or five weeks of the year, for The Tall Ships' Races, "Royalist" becomes a racing ship. During this period, only cadets who are over 16 years of age are allowed to crew her. This period usually involves a crew taking her to the start of the race (1 week duration). Then, the race crew come onboard, and race "Royalist" against other Class A ships in the race, which are from all over the world (2 week duration). When the race finishes, yet another crew come aboard, and bring her back home (2 week duration).

Cadets can gain various qualifications when they complete a week on board TS "Royalist", which are Offshore Hand 1, Offshore Hand 2, Offshore Seaman, and Offshore Watchleader.

ee also

* The Marine Society
**Sea Cadets
* Jubilee Sailing Trust
**"Lord Nelson"
**"Tenacious"
*Tall Ships Youth Trust
**"Prince William"
**"Stavros S Niarchos"
*Trafalgar 200

External links

* [http://www.ms-sc.org/ Sea Cadets website]
* [http://www.squareriggerclub.org.uk/ Square Rigger Club (support organization for TS "Royalist")]
* [http://www.sailtraininginternational.org/ Sail Training International]
* [http://www.tsecho.org.uk/ Llanelli sea cadets]