About Sailing Tectona CIC
Sailing Tectona CIC is a non-profit organisation that provides sail training opportunities for people of all ages and from all backgrounds. They work with all groups of people including youth groups, school groups and adults in recovery from mental health issues and substance misuse. Sailing Tectona’s core team are a group of people that love what they do and have a real passion for sharing what they do with others.
Sailing Tectona run two traditional sailing boats that are very different in size, layout and history - Tectona and Olga. Their voyages allow individuals to become an efficient sailing team through the process of taking a boat to sea. Teamwork, communication and resilience are all developed daily whilst hoisting sails, navigating and living onboard. These skills often allow people to make positive changes in their lives after the voyage.
About Olga
Olga is a beautiful original Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter that was built for racing out to big ships in 1909. This means that she is sleek and fast, despite her age! She is laid out almost exactly as she would have been originally, both on deck and down below. On deck she has a big tiller for steering and everything to control her sails is manual. This means everyone on board needs to work together to get Olga sailing to the best of her ability.
Down below, Olga is immaculately finished thanks to a full interior refit in 2011 by T. Nielsen & Company. She has a forward compartment with 6 beds, the galley and a sail store. In the main compartment, there are 4 beds plus the dining table, then further back there is a toilet, wet locker, chart table, skippers bunk and engine room.
In September 2023, Olga will be returning to the care of her owner, Swansea Museum. Sailing Tectona's five year loan agreement is coming to its end and, after careful consideration, the board have made the difficult decision to not renew it. The time has come for Sailing Tectona to focus on Tectona - to secure her future and get her sailing again.
About Tectona
Tectona was built in 1928, is solid teak and extremely seaworthy - so seaworthy that in the past she safely sailed across the stormiest of oceans. The layout of the sails means she is easy to handle and perfect for learning. She has a hand worked windlass for pulling up the anchor which can only be done as a team. On deck, there is a big wheel and everyone who comes sailing gets a chance to learn how to steer. There is also a charthouse on deck - affectionately known as the shed - where all the navigating is done from.
Tectona is currently undergoing a full refit, with a team of volunteers being busy re-designing her interior, to further facilitate better use of space to improve Tectona's sail training experiences for all those who sail with them in the future. The aim is to get Tectona sailing by the summer of 2024. In June 2023, Sailing Tectona won £70,000 towards the community rebuild of Tectona from the National Lottery's People's Projects fund, voted for by the public.
About the Tectona Trust
Tectona Trust is the parent charity to Sailing Tectona CIC. The Trust provides financial support for those in Recovery so that they can undertake a voyage with Sailing Tectona.
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