Application for the Zer°emission Youth Offshore Academy -program is open!

by Noora

February 14, 2022

News

0 comments

Zer°emission is searching for new teammates and looking forward to coaching young talented sailors, who are willing to further develop their sailing skills and contribute to the program on many levels. The Youth Offshore Academy aims to give an opportunity for young sailors to take the next step on building their professional sailing career, by training the sailors on all different aspects needed for a victorious sailing career. 

The program is designed to coach young sailors to become competitive offshore sailing professionals. The selected team members will become sailors with strong offshore experience, Sea survival and first aid skills as well as knowledge of how to maintain the boats and build media awareness to a project. We are looking for sailors who can contribute to the team on many different levels”, says Samuli Leisti

The Youth Offshore Academy is supported by the Finnish Sailing and Boating Federation (SPV). The collaboration strengthens the team of professionals working with the sailors, and is a much pursued step for the team to strengthen the collaboration with local federations. Vili Kaijansinkko, the head coach of the Finnish Sailing and Boating Federation, is looking forward to the collaboration:

“Such a wonderful project that I believe will shake as well as invigorate the culture of the sport. Not everyone will, and doesn’t need to become Olympic sailors. It is a great blessing that sailing can and is practiced and competed in various forms. I think that programs like this will make competitive, young people like the sport better. It is also possible to build more sail racing professionals in Finland through this program. Sailing Team Finland’s coaching team, representing diverse expertise, is glad to support the preparation of the project.”

The project is also a natural step on the team’s sustainability mission. “Being or acting sustainably is not just about caring about the environment and joining us in the Race Against Sea Pollution to spread the message about the state of our oceans. It is also about giving back to the community and using our capabilities to support the success of the next generation”, sums up Noora Westerlund,  communications manager of the Zer°emission project.

The chosen sailors will also learn from the team’s own young guns Joona Pasanen, Daniel Kario and Lucas Karlemo who already have grown with the project to extremely skilled sailors. Lucas, representing Esbo Segelforening winning the Nord Stream Race 2021 and the Sailing Champions League 2021, could not have had a stronger start to his offshore sailing career. Lucas tells about he’s experience:

“Zer0emission has been a very awesome and educational project in every way. The TP52 is a very dinghy boat that both feels and behaves like a dinghy on the water. The similar nature of the boats makes a dinghy sailor an ideal sailor in this crew, even if you have no previous keel boat experience. You will quickly learn all the skills needed for keel boating along the way. The project is also an excellent opportunity to grow your own network abroad if one wishes to do so. ”

If you are passionate about sailing and eager to learn as well as prepared to give your best to support the team on different tasks on shore, do not hesitate to join the Race Against Sea Pollution!

The search for future offshore champions is open from Valentines day until the end of February.  After the application process 17 new members between 18 and 30 years will be chosen to participate in the Zer°emission project.

>> Apply now and join us in the Race Against Sea Pollution!