Young sailors from across Caithness and Sutherland made their way across the North Sea as part of the Tall Ships Races which culminated in a four-day festival at the host port of Lerwick in Shetland.

The 12 trainees begun their sailing adventure in Fredrikstad, Norway visiting guest harbours along the Norwegian and Scottish coasts. As well as training all aspects of sail the trainees took part in festival events and celebrations at guest harbour and ports as part of the Tall Ships Races 2023.

The Statsraad Lehmkuhl and Roald Amundsen joined a fleet of international ships, which arrived in Shetland for the festival, attended by Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

The Princess Royal met Tall Ships racers on the last full day of the sailing festival's stay in Shetland at the end of last month and spoke to some of the young people who make up around half of the 1300 visiting crew members.

The initiative is organised by charity Sail Training Shetland. Sponsorship for the 12 young people in Caithness and Sutherland taking part was made possible thanks to sponsorship by Scrabster Harbour Trust, Pentland Floating Offshore Windfarm and Developing Young Workforce North Highland.

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