New Skipper appointed

Thorben will contribute much to the success of Swan's busy sailing schedule for 2016.

An interesting sailing programme is planned by the Swan Trust for 2016, including a Round Shetland Cruise in May and a ten day cruise to St Kilda in June. The St Kilda Cruise includes taking part in the first ever St Kilda Challenge Race from Lochmaddy, North Uist to St Kilda.

There are also a number of weekend and day sails planned which offer opportunities to visit Foula, Fair Isle and Papa Stour. Mid – summer features in the programme with a sunset and sunrise cruise on Mid-summer’s night and a barbeque cruise the preceding week-end.

A key feature of the season will be the Swan’s participation in Nordisk Seilas in early July. Crewed with Sail Training Shetland trainees, the Swan will take part in a series of races with other traditional vessels commencing in Hobro, Denmark, then racing to Öckerö, Sweden and finishing in Kragerø, Norway. This event in the Skaggerak and Kattegat has proved extremely popular with previous trainees. With the Tall Ships Races centred on Spain and Portugal, the Swan plans taking part in the Tall Ships North Sea Regatta from Blyth, Northumberland to Gothenburg, Sweden.

Thorben is a traditional boat enthusiast with many years’ experience sailing in the Eastern Mediterranean, Caribbean and Spanish Atlantic coast. A keen outdoor sports enthusiast, he spent his university holidays as a white water rafting guide in Switzerland. He has been involved in working with young people on outdoor team building events and summer camps in Switzerland and most recently in the Lesser Antilles as skipper for a company offering sailing and diving experiences to American teenagers. In his spare time he is restoring a steel hulled schooner on the Rhine. Thorben is looking forward to his time in Shetland aboard the Swan;

I am ready for a change of climate and getting to know Shetland and its communities. As a traditional boat enthusiast I look forward to spending as much time on the water as possible and feel privileged to have been offered this opportunity to contribute to keeping this part of Shetland’s maritime history alive.

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