Bermuda Sun – November 11th 2002

Cash drive for training ship
By Alex O’Reilly

The Bermuda Sloop Foundation (BSF) has just six months to go before they start building their training ship in order to meet their promise of having the boat in Bermuda for the start of the 2005 school year.

As they take the fundraising venture public, the BSF has brought in a speaker, Rafe Parker, to talk about the value of such programmes to young people.

The BSF has worked for five years now on an educational programme which would give local teenagers a chance to crew on board a 17th century replica of a Bermuda Sloop. So far the BSF has received backing for the plan from Government and the Bank of Bermuda — some $600,000 each — bringing their total raised to $1.5 million. They need to double that amount before they start building.

BSF chairman Alan Burland said that they are in end-stage negotiations with a major international company and he hopes an announcement will be forthcoming.

So now, he hopes that by bringing plans for the BSF forward it will encourage more sponsorship. The final cost of the sloop is $3.85 million.

Mr. Parker — who ran a similar programme for the past 20 years Sea Education Association in Massachusetts — said: “The Foundation is designed to give the kids a real sense of themselves and of those they work with within their class. It shows them that what they are learning has a direct application to what goes on in the outside world.”

Mr. Parker will be making a presentation at the Ernst & Young Future Leaders conference at the Fairmont Princes Hotel, which features management guru and best selling author Tom Peters. He will also be speaking at Tuesday’s Hamilton Rotary meeting.

Anyone interested in speaking with Mr. Parker or members of the BSF can call Mr. Burland at 292-2288 or Malcolm Kirkland 299-5110 or visit the website at www.bermudasloop.org