Introducing Ava Priest, one of Sail Training Shetland's Trainees partaking in the 2022 Tall Ships Races, sailing in the second leg of the race from Harlingen in The Netherlands to Antwerp in Belgium. Ava has a friend who works at sea in the Caribbean, who started her sailing career on Shetlands Tall Ship Swan, so Ava herself has always known about the sailing opportunities Swan provides. In Primary school she went on a school trip on Swan and has attended Sail Training Taster days for two years in a row. Last year she was encouraged to sign up for the 2022 Tall Ships Races - which she did.
Ava is most excited to try new things, meet new people and go to new places. Telling us "I’ve started doing things outside of my comfort zone, it’s so easy to not sign up and just stay at home…I wanted to do something that was a bit different and that would push me"
Also sharing some advice for others ‘I didn’t know much about sailing but thought I would give it a try, now I’m hooked on it. Speak to people and try everything - you’ll get so much more out of it, I made so many friends on the taster sales. You will not regret getting involved with it, you come away just absolutely buzzing from the whole experience and feeling so fulfilled.’
