Sail Training International nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Last week we launched this blog and the first post stated that there would be a lot to celebrate about sail training in 2006. Well, the party got even bigger today when we received an email today from Nigel Rowe, chairman of Sail Training International advising that STI has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.  As a rule, Nobel Peace Prize nominations are not “officially” released until 50 years after they are made; however, on occasion those making the nomination will release this information and that is the case here. (STI press release)

I am sure that I don’t need to say that the competition for this award can be characterized as severe. Just to be nominated is a major accomplishment that few individuals or organizations ever dream of. While STI was founded in 2002 by 20 national sail training organizations including ASTA, the roots of the award reach back through the International Sail Training Assocation to the Sail Training Association, UK, the organizers of the first European Tall Ships Races in 1956. Over the years many, many people have contributed to the modern phenomenon of Tall Ships and sail training including ASTA’s founder Barclay Warburton III.

STI team under the leadership of Nigel Rowe has raised the awareness of sail training in Europe and across the world in its few short years of existence. The American Sail Training Assocation is pleased to be a founding member of STI and proud to play a major role in advancing sail training in North American and around the world. 

I’m sure we will be hearing more on this soon, so stay tuned. 

Celebrating sail training in 2006!

 In 2006 there is a lot to celebrate in the world of sail training and tall ships!

Fifty years ago a London lawyer, the Portuguese ambassador to the UK and several other interested Brits organized the first European Tall Ships races. Their intent was to mark the end of the Great Age of Sail. Instead, their actions marked the beginning of a new era of Tall Ships where these beautiful wind powered vessels stopped carrying commodities like grain and lumber and started carry precious human cargo for education, training, leadership development and adventure travel.

Thirty years ago the first Tall Ships race came to America to celebrate our Bicentennial. The American Sail Training Association (ASTA) was founded in 1973, in part, to co-organize this major event with the Sail Training Association (UK). One leg of the race ended in Newport, RI and forever changing the City by the Sea, ASTA’s homeport.

Today, tall ships still excite and inspire us. They have an incredible ability to change young lives through deep water sailing experiences and to change communities when a fleet or a single ship visits.

There is a lot to celebrate in 2006!