Joves Navegants sails to join the Tall Ships in Barcelona

A group of children from underprivileged background from Majorca under the care of the foundation “Joves Navegants” have been invited for the first time to take part in the “Tall Ship Race and Regatta” aboard of the foundation’s 22 metre vessel Galaxie.
The association, founded in 1992 by a group of British and Irish sailors, including Irish born Captain Kevin O’Regan, received an invitation from the exclusive and Jubilee Trust, the organiser of the event that starts this weekend in Barcelona and will extend until 7 October.
The children, alongside Captain Terry Purkiss, ambassador for Joves Navegants and a founding member of the association will sail from Barcelona on the first stage of the race that includes two further stages from Toulon and La Spezia in Italy.
“To be more precise it’s not really a race,” said Captain Kevin, patron of Joves Navegants. “It’s not about who reaches the finishing line first, but more of a case of who shows and does more for international goodwill.”
“This is a great step forward for our association because if we compete in this regatta, we become part of the Trust and will then be able to get our youngsters on board of the big square riggers, as well as participate in future races for a very reasonable price. “You can only join by invitation and we were honoured to receive it.” Captain Kevin explained to the Bulletin that the main aim of Joves Navegants is not to teach children how to sail, although inevitably children do pick up knowledge on how to master a vessel along the way, but to get the youngsters off the streets and teach them how to work as a team and often isolated at sea.