Britannia Sailing Trust’s future plans are focussed on completing the vessel’s restoration and transforming her into a fully operational historic vessel, working to serve specific social, environmental, and heritage goals.
Our mission has five pillars:
1. Heritage: Maritime Heritage Conservation
The primary heritage goal is to preserve maritime heritage by keeping Britannia sailing and accessible to the public.
This includes:
• Britannia as a Working Museum: Our 1915 fishing smack will serve as a working museum and classroom, showcasing traditional seamanship, navigation, and wooden boat craftsmanship.
• Preserving Intangible Heritage: The project aims to preserve intangible heritage, including the art and craft of wooden boatbuilding, traditional sailing techniques, and knowledge of historical working vessels.
• Ongoing Conservation: The Trust will document restoration milestones and maintain Britannia to exhibition standard using regular annual maintenance employing traditional techniques, tools, and materials, ensuring these skills remain alive and visible.
2. Skills: Development & Employment
Our skills goal is to pass on traditional skills through training and apprenticeships, in order to safeguard endangered boatbuilding and sailing skills
We will do this through:
• Structured Traineeships: A structured traineeship programme will provide young people and volunteers with hands-on experience in wooden boat restoration, rigging, and sailing.
• Mentorship and Pathways: Skilled shipwrights will mentor our trainees in skills ranging from carpentry to ropework, creating pathways into maritime trades.
• Real-World Experiences: Operating Britannia as a working vessel will create many opportunities for seamanship and ship maintenance training, ensuring these skills are not lost to time. Formal certification, such as RYA crew certificates, can be also used as a metric of success.
3. Youth: Empowerment & Wellbeing
The Trust aims to empower youth, especially those from disadvantaged or non-traditional backgrounds, through engagement with Britannia.
We do this via:
• Youth Development Platform: Britannia currently offers and will continue to offer an inspiring platform for youth development, involving adventurous voyages, learning discipline and teamwork, and discovering maritime career options.
• Targeted Recruitment: The Trust actively recruits young apprentices and crew, including NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) youth and those seeking a fresh start, providing mentorship and accredited training where possible.
• Life-Changing Experiences: These experiences are intended to improve mental well-being, provide positive mentorship, and help redirect life paths toward further education or employment
4. Community: Engagement & Social Capital
Our community goal is to serve and engage coastal communities, with a focus on inclusion.
• Community Destinations: Britannia plans to visit ports around the UK, specifically targeting economically deprived coastal areas and inviting local residents on board.
• Inclusive Voyages: The Trust will partner with community groups and charities (such as our partner, CCP) to offer day sails and residential voyages to those who would otherwise not have the chance to experience the sea – such as disadvantaged families, veterans, or individuals with mental health challenges.
• Port Activities: At each port stop, Britannia can host events such as open-ship, school visits, and storytelling sessions to strengthen local pride in maritime heritage.
5. Environment: Awareness & Action
The objective here is to promote environmental stewardship and sustainable practices.
• Environmental Ambassador: Britannia will serve as a charismatic ambassador for the environment, demonstrating zero-emission transport under sail and drawing attention to ocean conservation, particularly pollution like plastic waste.
• Voyage Activities: Participants on voyages will witness the marine environment firsthand and may assist with scientific observation or beach clean-ups.
• Britannia Wood Initiative: The Trust is committed to sustainability through its Britannia Wood initiative – a dedicated 15-hectare woodland in North Devon, planted in partnership with the National Trust to supply quality native timber for future boatbuilders and restore biodiversity.