Two Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre (JSATC) 72ft yachts, ‘Adventure of Hornet’ and ‘Discoverer of Hornet’ have set sail on a circumnavigation of the globe as they embark on the much heralded tri-service adventurous training sailing expedition, Exercise Transglobe.
Skipper of HMSTC Adventure of Hornet for the first leg from Gosport to Lanzarote, Nick Trundle, who is also the officer in charge of the Joint Services Adventure Sailing Training Centre said “Exercise Transglobe will, in the true spirit of Service Adventurous Training, seriously challenge all those who take part.
“It has been two years in the planning and we are all looking forward to getting under way.”
He added “The two yachts are in excellent shape and I’m confident that the Service personnel who take part will have experiences and leadership challenges that will develop their ability to do their jobs within the military more effectively and also remain with them for a lifetime.”
Shortly before they set off, the two yachts were officially named in true nautical tradition with champagne poured over their prows by Mrs Anita Lister, the wife of Vice Admiral Simon Lister who is chairman of the Association of Service Yacht Clubs and Admiral of the Royal Naval Sailing Association and Mrs Sarah-Lucie Bashall, wife of Lt General Bashall who is Commodore of the Army Sailing Association.
Also present was Air Commodore Dave Lee, Commodore of the Royal Air Force Sailing Association.
In voyages spanning some thirteen months, the two yachts – one manned by Royal Naval and Royal Air Force personnel and the other by Soldiers of the British Army – will sail around the world in 13 legs with a break in Australia to take part in the world renowned Sydney-Hobart Yacht race.
A total of 392 women and men, both reserves and regulars, will take part. For many of these, it will be their first experience of life afloat having to deal with the physically and mentally demanding challenges of ocean sailing.
From the tropical waters of the Caribbean to the wilds of the Southern Ocean the 72ft Challenger yachts will grace such spectacular harbour entrances as Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Sydney and New York among many others before returning to Gosport in late August 2016.
In all the yachts can expect to travel some 35,060 nautical miles before they return to Gosport in August 2016.