Question: Why do you think sending just two pupils for a day sail would benefit our planet or society? What change or improvement would this result in?

Tamsin Dobrowolska answered on 20 Jun 2016:

Thats a brilliant question!

The pupils will learn how a tall ship sails. They will see how we use engineering (ropes and pulleys) to harness the power of the wind and see marine engineering in action when they are at sea and the generators are creating power so that there are lights on downstairs, the toilets flush with sea water and the cook is able to make a big lunch for everyone on board! The lucky students will develop their team work and communication skills and they work with the other people on board to sail the ship (using the ropes to change the sails, climbing the mast to bring the sails in or out and steering the ship from the bridge). They will have the opportunity to visit the engine room of the ship and see all the different systems that are needed to keep the ships going at sea.

They will also learn about the recycling and different ways that we have to work to reduce the environmental impact of sailing. This is really important because of the massive number of ships that sail around the world transporting goods and services!

I hope that the students will go back to their schools and share their experience so that their whole year (and hopefully their whole school!) can see the importance of the shipping industry and understand the engineering behind sailing ships. This will help you with your GCSE physics where you have to look at forces as well as seeing the real life application of electricity, electronics, hydrostatics and hydrodynamics.