Prince Edward to sail on Spirit of New Zealand
Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, will sail on the Spirit of New Zealand on November 5 alongside forty young New
Zealander’s on the Waitemata Harbour. The sailing will rekindle memories of his time spent aboard the Spirit of
Adventure in 1982 when he was studying in New Zealand. This experience continues the Royal Family’s interest in the
Trust’s work and youth development in general.
Spirit of Adventure Trust’s Chairman, Stephen Fisher says “We are honoured that Prince Edward is spending time on board
the ship and able to sail with the youth of New Zealand. We are pleased to have him back aboard.”
The Spirit of New Zealand sails 340 days a year providing a youth development programme to 15 -19 year olds. The Trust
has been operating since 1973 and has touched the lives of over 75,000 abled and disabled youth in the areas of
leadership, communication, self esteem, confidence, resilience, independence, community spirit and team building skills.
Mr Fisher says, he was proud of the Trust’s most recent award when named the 2008 winner of the Sail Training
Organisation of the Year (large vessels)’ given by the UK based world wide body, Sail Training International. Mr Fisher
stated that “this demonstrated excellence in innovation and best practice in leadership training for young people.” The
Spirit of Adventure Trust successfully competed against 20 other countries which operate over 100 ships.
ENDS