About our boat

Introducing John Laing

See below for more pictures.

John Laing is a Shipwright 70. She was custom built for the Ocean Youth Club in 1990 specifically as a sail training vessel.

She is in many ways an ideal boat for sail training with young people:

• John Laing is immensely safe and strong. She has sailed round the world; she was specially chosen by the British Army for an expedition to Antarctica in 2001-2; and she has completed many seasons of UK-based sail training. Through all this, she has kept crew members safe and secure on board, whatever the conditions at sea.
  
  
• She was designed to be sailed by young people, many of whom are novice sailors. The smallest 12-year olds or the crew members with physical disabilities can be fully involved in sailing the boat; nothing is too complicated for young people to learn; but she also sails well enough to offer really exciting sailing and a proper challenge for older or more experienced crew members.
  
  
• Her accommodation includes a table big enough for everyone - crew members and sea staff - to sit round. This means that the whole team can have briefings together, discuss plans for the voyage, and have meals together. Everyone gets to know everyone else; everyone is a valued part of the team; watch leaders and young crew members are all engaged in the voyage together.

Vessel description
John Laing is a ketch, which means that she has two masts, a taller main mast and shorter mizzen mast behind it. With a main sail, a mizzen sail and an assortment of headsails to be hoisted, there is plenty for twelve crew members to do - and not much chance of getting bored!

At the stern (back end of the boat) is the cockpit, with plenty of room for lots of people to sit together - either on look out, listening to briefings, or simply enjoying the sailing. The steering wheel is also in the cockpit – all crew members take turns to steer the boat.

All around the deck are strong points and jackstays (lines) for people to clip onto with their harness lines so there is no risk of losing anyone overboard. We also have two liferafts, each big enough to hold the entire crew in an emergency; and we have a dinghy which can be rowed by crew members, though there is also an outboard engine if sea staff need to ferry people ashore.

Below decks the crew members sleep in an area at the front of the boat with twelve bunks. The sea staff have cabins in the middle and the rear of the boat.

There are two toilets with wash basins – but no showers; we use the showers provided in most harbours.

There is a galley (kitchen) and a living area (the saloon), with the table for meals and briefings.

There is also a navigation area containing all the navigational equipment and charts (maps) – all the crew members will be involved with navigation at some stage.

What can John Laing do?
Our average sailing speed is about 6 knots (nautical miles per hour) – that’s almost 7 land miles per hour. The maximum speed under sail can be over 10 knots. Under engine the maximum is actually less: only 7 or 8 knots. But sailing is more fun than motoring, so even in light winds we often sail – rather slowly!

As John Laing is so safe and strong, she can sail in an enormous range of conditions. If the wind is really too light then we might just have to motor; but the boat will cope really well with very strong winds. We might choose not to put to sea in really bad weather out of consideration for the crew, but there are few things that John Laing herself couldn't cope with!

Safety
Safety is paramount on board John Laing. She is fully maintained in accordance with the Maritime Coastguard Agency's Code of Practice for Small Commercial Vessels and our own exacting standards. Annual surveys by an independent assessor and regular maintenance ensure that all the equipment and the vessel's specifications adhere to and exceed the legal requirements to run her as a sail training vessel.

The sea staff from 3rd mate to the skipper are RYA (DOT) qualified at a level equal to or greater than their position of responsibility requires. In addition all staff undergo rigorous in-house assessment and training to ensure the highest standards are maintained. Likewise, the crew undergo a structured training programme on joining the vessel so that they are able to participate fully and safely in the voyage

When at sea, the vessel routinely reports in on a daily basis and is always contactable via one or more of the communication systems onboard.