Young Endeavour

The Young Endeavour is a sail training ship operated by the Royal Australian Navy on behalf of the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme. It was built in Lowestoft, England by Brooke Yachts and launched on June 2 1987. Young Endeavour was presented to Australia by the UK government as a bicentennial gift where she entered commission on January 25 1988.

History

Work began on the construction of Young Endeavour in May 1986 and she was launched on June 2 1987. On August 3 1987 she set sail for Australia with a crew which included young people from both Britain and Australia. The official handing-over ceremony took place on January 25 1988 and was attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales. During the ceremony then prime minister of Australia Bob Hawke dedicated the ship to the youth of Australia and soon after the Young Enderavour Youth Scheme was created to set up the sailing programme, with the Royal Australian Navy running the ship.

Specifications

Young Endeavour is a 44m long square-rigged vessel with a displacement of 239 tons. She is twin masted and capable of 14 knots under sail or 10 knots when powered by her 2 Perkins V8 diesel engines. She carries 33 crew, 9 of which are RAN personnel and the remaining 24 youths from the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme, and can travel for 2,500 nautical miles at a rate of 7 knots when powered.

Youth Scheme

The Young Endeavour Youth Scheme allows youths aged 16-23 to sail onboard the Young Endeavour under the instruction of the Royal Australian Navy and is designed to teach not only sailing skills but teamwork and leadership skills. Under the scheme Young Endeavour sails around 20 voyages each year, with each voyage lasting around 11 days. The voyages are mostly within Australian waters.

Achievements

In 1992 Young Endeavour completed a circumnavigation of the globe and represented Australia in events across Europe and America to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage to the New World.