Ocean Youth Trust Ireland (OYTI) has been in existence since 1960 and Lord Rank has been an operational training vessel for the past 17 years with an incredible number of sea miles under her sails. OYTI offer a unique experience to any crew as she is a 68ft yacht which brings over 600 young people on voyages each year.

Lord Rank is specifically suited to young people as she is hardy and whilst equipment is modern it is user friendly enough to allow young trainees the opportunity to take ownership of their voyages. OYTI describe Lord Rank as their classroom at sea as groups will learn through informal education a number of skills and abilities both on and off the school curriculum.

Our Approach and Why it Works
Ocean Youth Trust Ireland is a youth centered organization at who's heart is experiential learning. We do not simply take young people on a boat trip, rather we bring young people on a journey of discovery about themselves, their environment and ultimately help them to find their place in society.

As an organization we are highly professional with connections to sailing and youth work institutions. We are affiliated to ISA, RYA whilst our governing body is ASTO.

Our greatest asset is our boat as we understand that Lord Rank and Four Sisters both offer a unique platform for youth development as they provide the environment for building mutual respect, self esteem, core values and a connection with the wider world.

There are identifiable processes which are taking place when we do our work. We take working with young people very seriously and our tailor made programmes are grounded in informal education and youthwork theory, best practice models.

Ocean Youth Trust Ireland creates an atmosphere in which young people will learn more about themselves. The tasks of sailing a boat are reliant on team work. Our voyages are carefully planned to maximize the principles of outdoor education and nature creates an element of risk which underlies all of our work and makes the whole experience exciting and unique for every group. We are very fortunate, Ireland has an expansive coastline which we can explore, if that is not enough, there are the two thirds of the world covered by ocean which we can access.

Underlying the core elements of sailing we ultimately connect people and build relationships. We link people to themed voyages such as heritage, the arts and culture. We deliver training in house before beginning a voyage to allow comfort levels to be increased and young people to feel more confident when stepping onboard our boats.

We offer trainees an opportunity to link into the wider world of sailing and have a partner organization ‘International Yachtmaster Academy' which delivers all of our maritime qualifications.

Our professional team are role models, they have a range of skills and experiences which young people learn from. A culture has been developed within the organization of challenge and reward. The crew live, cook, sleep, learn and eat together on voyages. Young people will get sea sick and they will get wet, they will feel an element of risk and nervousness however behind it all Ocean Youth Trust will nurture a safe environment in which young people will be excited and minds will be opened to new experiences and we will bring young people on a journey of self discovery.