Gap Year Student Looking Forward to Adventure

A young student from Portsmouth, UK (originally from Charleston, USA) is making plans to conquer her fear of open water by taking to the seas as part of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge. Along with 40 others, Jocelyn  Smith, will be joining the Bulgarian Tall Ship, Kaliakra, in Vigo, Spain before sailing to Tenerife and then across the Atlantic to Bermuda and then to Charleston.

The eighteen year old is currently on work experience in Gloucestershire, UK, during her gap year before going to university to study mechanical engineering. Jocelyn has taken part in two Tall Ships Races before but realises the Atlantic Challenge will be something quite different.

"It's not called a challenge for nothing so I'm well aware that it will be a life changing experience" says Jocelyn. "But I want to take part to prove I can conquer my fears and see how far I can push myself. I realise it may be difficult at times but when I step ashore in Charleston after having sailed some 3,000 miles over two months I know I will have a sense of elation and achievement. This will be made all the more sweet as I have family in Charleston so arriving by ship will give me a great sense of pride."

Jocelyn believes the experience will also stand her in good stead for her future. "Sailing on a tall ship requires good teamwork and self-determination and I believe this will be great preparation for study," she says. "Not just because I will be meeting new people and living with them in close quarters, much like university, but because it will help me learn to motivate myself and others and that's a great thing to learn in life."

Captain Toma Tomov, the master of the 52m three masted barquentine Kaliakra, has many years experience of sailing the seven seas with his ship, including taking part in a past Atlantic Tall Ships race when he came third of 143 participants.

"Kaliakra is one of the fastest and best looking tall ships in the world," says Captain Tomov proudly. "She is owned by the Bulgarian Maritime Training Centre. We always have a wide range of different nationalities on board which creates a wonderful informal and fun atmosphere on board. We fully intend to race to win and so encourage others to come and join us. It will be a wonderful experience I guarantee!"

Jocelyn is hoping to get some sponsorship for her participation. "It is quite expensive to take part but I wouldn't miss it for the world," she says. "I would like to donate some money to Cancer Research UK but obviously the current economic climate doesn't smile upon sponsoring people but we'll see how much I can raise. Thankfully my employers are happy for me to take two months off and then I'll still have a month or two before starting university."

The  youngster believes her parents are more worried about it than she is. "My mother didn't even know Bulgaria had a coastline, but I think my father is secretly very jealous of my impending adventure. The longest I've ever been without seeing land is six days so to spend a couple of weeks at sea is going to be a whole new experience," says Jocelyn.