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14 January 2025
Free Open Day on STS Young Endeavour – Geelong Festival of Sail – Sunday 26 Jan, 1-4pm
Visit Australia’s national sail training ship STS Young Endeavour at the Geelong Festival of Sails!
As part of the 2025 Geelong Festival of Sails, STS Young Endeavour has been announced as the official start boat for the 182nd Melbourne to Geelong Passage Race on Saturday 25 Jan. After the race STS Young Endeavour will accompany the fleet as it makes its way to Geelong, where it will be docked at Wangim Walk, Royal Geelong Yacht Club for the weekend. The ship will be open to the general public on Sunday 26 Jan, 1-4pm.
Explore the ship, meet the Royal Australian Navy staff crew, and hear from the Young Endeavour Ambassadors about their voyage experience. Since 1988 the ship has welcomed over 14,000 young Australians on board, and sailed more than 500,000 nautical miles.
A voyage in Young Endeavour is a challenging adventure at sea for youth aged 16-23 years. It’s a unique opportunity for youth to develop teamwork and leadership skills through an internationally recognised youth development program.
The event is free, open to all ages and great for the whole family. Visitors encouraged to wear enclosed, flat shoes and shorts/pants.
Come along to ask the team how you can apply for your own voyage of a lifetime.
If you’re a Young Endeavour Ambassador and would like to volunteer to assist at the event, please email mail@youngendeavour.gov.au to confirm.
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News
17 February 2025
Lessons learned from 50 years of service
During the open day at the 2025 Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart, project officer for STS Young Endeavour Commander Gavin Dawe shared his lessons learned from 49 years’ service in the Navy.
It’s not uncommon for 12-year-olds to hero worship their older siblings.
However, for Commander Gavin Dawe, the admiration of his older brother led to almost half a century of service to his country.
“My brother joined the Navy as a junior officer three years before me. He would come home and tell me all these stories of adventures and the things he’d done. I thought, ‘this seems like a good career for me’,” he said.
Growing up in Tasmania, Commander Dawe has always felt at home on the water.
“I grew up in Launceston. I’d always had an interest in water and sailing in general. I grew up sailing sabots on the Tamar River and in Sea Scouts.”
At an age where most people don’t even know what subjects they want to study in senior school, Commander Dawe already felt his life’s calling, enlisting before he could even drive a car.
“It was a real adjustment, and like every 15-year-old I was homesick, but I loved the experience,” he said.
As its own island within an island nation, Commander Dawe believes that Tasmanians have a strong and proud affinity with Navy.
“The Navy has always had a presence down here for special events. As the Hobart Regatta flagship and always here for a great deal of ceremonial events, so Tasmanians have always felt close to the Navy, and for a lot of young people it gives them an opportunity to experience the rest of the country and the world,” Commander Dawe said.
As a Leading Seaman, he was a member of the commissioning crew for the Adelaide-class frigate HMAS Canberra in 1981. He has also served on the destroyer HMAS Perth, as an Australian on board HMY Britannia for the Bicentenary, and as Executive Officer of HMAS Betano.
'I have seen the benefits [the Young Endeavour program] has for young people and how their confidence grows and the friendships they make.'
In 2008, Commander Dawe proudly took the helm as Captain of STS Young Endeavour, a posting that still fills him with pride.
“It’s just everything the ship does for young Australians. I feel very honoured to have had so much time with the ship and with the youth development program,” he said.
“I have seen the benefits it has for young people and how their confidence grows and the friendships they make.”
Commander Dawe was Captain of Young Endeavour from 2008-10, and again from 2014-17, when he circumnavigated the globe with a youth crew in 2015.
Currently the ship’s project officer, he is adamant that despite having the opportunity to explore the world, there’s one port that he holds sacred above all others.
“It is always special – I love sailing up the Derwent and seeing Mount Wellington,” Commander Dawe said.
“It is such a beautiful river to sail in; it always feels like a homecoming every time I sail into Hobart, even though I am from Launceston. I love all of this state.”
If he passes on one lesson from his 49 years in the Navy, it’s to always be curious and nurture your sense of adventure. He declares for young people trapped in a digital age of social media and technology, investing in a voyage in Young Endeavour would be life changing.
“From what I have experienced, this ship brings things back to basics,” Commander Dawe said.
“You’re out in the environment, you’re working as a team, you’re communicating face-to-face with people, and I really think in today’s society it’s about going back to basics and giving young people that appreciation of life.”
Youth sailing voyages on board Young Endeavour are open for all Australians aged 16-23 years. Those wishing to set sail in 2025 can find more information about how to join the crew here: www.youngendeavour.gov.au/apply-now
This article was originally published on Defence News.
News
30 January 2025
STS Young Endeavour – The Final Circumnavigation!
STS Young Endeavour to set sail on Australian Circumnavigation
Applications are now open for 2025 youth development voyages in the Navy operated tall ship STS Young Endeavour. This exciting program will see the brigantine circumnavigate Australia for the final time, before the introduction into service of a new, state-of-the-art vessel in the coming years.
“A voyage in Young Endeavour is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young Australians aged 16-23 to build valuable leadership and teamwork skills, helping them to increase their self-confidence and apply resilience in their everyday lives,” said Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour, Lieutenant Commander Andrew Leupen.
“Myself and the embarked Royal Australian Navy staff crew are proud to work with the youth of Australia, and we look forward to welcoming new youth crew on board and sailing to some of the most spectacular locations our country has to offer” he said.
During 2025 STS Young Endeavour will visit ports including Brisbane, Gladstone, Cairns, Thursday Island, Darwin, Broome, Exmouth, Fremantle, Albany. Before wrapping up along Adelaide, Geelong and returning to Sydney.
“This will be STS Young Endeavour’s first circumnavigation of Australia in eight years, and includes visits to some spectacular parts of the country,” said Lieutenant Commander Andrew Leupen.
“The 2025 voyage program offers an exciting opportunity for youth in regional and remote areas to join STS Young Endeavour and participate in the Youth Development Program in their home state”.
At each port Young Endeavour will embark 24 new youth crew aged 16-23, who will spend up to 13 days learning the skills required to sail a square-rigged vessel, including navigation, taking the helm, sail handling, climbing aloft and even taking command of the ship for 24 hours of the voyage.
While on board, youth crew have no access to mobile phones or social media, giving them the opportunity to disconnect from their everyday lives and immerse themselves in this new world at sea.
“We often hear from parents that youth return home with a renewed sense of purpose and confidence, as each voyage provides opportunities to meet new people, gain new perspectives and explore personal goals. The unique nature of the adventure these young Australians experience together means the friendships, skills and sense of community formed on board can last a lifetime,” Leupen said.
Since 1988, the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme, in partnership with the Australian Government and the Royal Australian Navy, has provided challenging and inspiring youth development voyages for over 14,000 youth on board STS Young Endeavour.
More than thirty-five years on, STS Young Endeavour continues to attract young Australians to participate in the world-class youth development program, with alumni confirming they have gained increased confidence to take on new challenges, and will apply the lessons learned on board to their everyday lives.
Applications for 2025 voyages are now open. Youth aged 15-23 can apply online here: Apply Now
News
28 January 2025
Youth Crew Claudia’s story!
“Our daughter Claudia sailed from Newcastle to Brisbane in the winter of 2023 on the STS Young Endeavour.
It was very hard but she loved it. Learning so much about connecting with others, leadership, teamwork, battling through fatigue to achieve your goal and most importantly, holding tight to your dreams and finding a way to make it happen. Going on the voyage helped her to find focus, self-belief, clarity and determination.
Claudia took that back to school, holding onto to her dream of being a doctor. We’re thrilled to say that Claudia achieved that dream. She has just been offered and accepted a place in medical school. After completing year 12 last year, she will begin a degree in Bachelor of Clinical Science (Medicine) and Doctor of Medicine, this year.
Claudia looks back at that very hard Young Endeavour trip as being life changing. She learnt so many skills, not only about her own capability, but also about how deep she can dig.
Thank you to everyone involved. Thanks to those who offered her a spot on the voyage and to the Navy team who crewed her. It changed her life.”
- Claudia’s Mum, Chris
