For each voyage, we offer a bespoke Sail Training Programme. The common thread on the Gulden Leeuw is always that the trainee is involved in all aspects of ship life, from the engine room to cooking soup and from setting sails to planning a voyage. We assign a lot of responsibility and notice that this is also taken on. In order to achieve this, we follow the teaching-training-coaching path. The crew takes a step back more and more often, so that the trainee eventually runs the ship on their own.

We discuss the key points of the trip in order to fit in with the programme. Here are a few examples:

Takeover
Takeover is a speciality of the Gulden Leeuw. During a takeover, all duties on board are handled by trainees for 24 hours. From captain to cook. A takeover is suitable for longer trips. When the time for the takeover is approaching, trainees can apply for managerial positions. The crew and the trainees decide together who will carry out which job. On such a day, the ship is operated entirely by trainees. The trainees make their own choices and decisions. An officer remains on standby at all times to ensure safety.

Msit No’kmaq - all my relations
During the Rendez-Vous 2017 , we sailed with indigenous youth groups from Canada between Quebec and Le Havre in France. A fraught journey, owing to mutual conflict and oppression. Such a group on board is an independent community, almost like a small town in terms of the challenges and problems it faces; these cannot be ignored and need to be overcome; in the process, personal engagement is fostered and strengthened.

Maritime Academies
During the summer of 2019, we had trainees on board from an Italian maritime academy for a month. At maritime academies, the emphasis is on nautical development on board. Gaining experience. We developed a Gulden Leeuw sail training task book where progress could be logged. This workbook mirrors the STCW code. It's also possible to work through the in-house STCW handbook...

International exchanges Erasmus +
in collaboration with Windseeker
During these voyages, you get to experience life within your own 'miniature EU' society on board. You learn to work with people from different backgrounds, discover the similarities and turn the differences to your advantage. You practice communication skills, learn to work in a team and make friends with people you would otherwise never have met. You will be invited to share the customs, traditions and cuisine of your own country, take part in games and challenges and learn how to feel at ease in the group.

Clean circle navigators
in collaboration with Windseeker
On board, Clean Circle Navigators focuses on circular behaviour and an innovative approach to a cleaner future. It raises awareness of the necessity to be sustainable and enables the trainees to come up with and share solutions for present-day pollution and waste problems.