We would like to say a huge thank you to Cowes Week for having us as one of its official Charity Partners for 2024. We had a scorcher of a week celebrating the second year of this fantastic partnership.

We enjoyed a jam-packed schedule of events, including drinks with Skippers and crew, our week-long winch grinding competition, a successful drinks reception and Women’s Day panel.

Challenger 3 was at the forefront of the activities over the weekend, with our young ambassadors inspiring a new generation of potential sailors by delivering free tours of our yacht, they shared their voyaging experiences and talked to visitors about life on board.

Our mast climb challenge sparked friendly competition between the Royal Navy and Royal Marine Commandos as they sought to reach the top in the fastest time. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Royal Navy as they generously invited our crew and young ambassadors on a P200 patrol boat trip, giving our young people further insight into maritime pathways.

Charity Day Drinks Reception with special guests

We were delighted to hold our first Charity Day Drinks Reception at the Royal London Yacht Club during Cowes Week.

The event was a huge success, as we welcomed local councillors, MP’S, and Sailing Club representatives, including Naval Base Commander John Voyce, and IOW Councillor Karl Love. They were all extremely interested to learn more about our three voyage journey and the work we are doing to increase our reach around the UK, to help as many young people as possible change their lives at sea.

We also welcomed several TSYT Life members, one in particular who made the journey all the way from Germany to join us. Ralf-Lutz Glor, who first sailed with TSYT almost 50 years ago, attended the evening along with his daughter Joana and grandson, Fiete Willem aged 10, who was very inspired by meeting our young ambassadors and speaking with the Royal Navy Officers.

A huge thank you to all our guests who attended the evening, we hope you had a fantastic time, and we’re so pleased to have made so many new connections.

Women’s Day Panel

To celebrate females in maritime, we held our Women’s Day panel at the Island Sailing Club on Women’s Day during Cowes Week.

Huge praise goes to our six panellists Kirsty French, Jo Cox, Lucy Grodie, India Sims, Charlotte Mossop and Kitty Kaneen. Guests had a rare insight into each of their journeys into maritime, as they openly discussed their struggles and successes in the industry. Several young females made the trip over to Cowes especially to hear from our panellists, and they shared with us how empowered they felt after listening to their stories.

Watch the full discussion

Finally, we’d like to say a massive thank you to all our amazing volunteers and young ambassadors who helped throughout the week – none of our activities could have been possible without your help, time and enthusiasm and energy, thank you very much.