May 18, 2010

Dear 2010-2011 Parents and Students,

Although I have not been your immediate correspondent throughout your process of applying to and joining Class Afloat, I have been working closely with our staff in recent months to ensure that we prepare, for the class of 2010-2011, the very best that Class Afloat has to offer. We have all been deeply affected by the loss,  just 90 days ago, of our flagship, the S/V Concordia, and we have appreciated your support and confidence as we worked to secure a new vessel for the coming year.  Today, we are pleased to announce that we have secured the services of a truly remarkable vessel and an excellent platform for the 2010-2011 programme.

We have reached an agreement in principle with the operators of the Sail Training Vessel “Sorlandet” of Norway.  The Sorlandet, a fully rigged ship, is one of the true jewels on the Sail Training stage. Larger than the Concordia and rigourously maintained, she is Norwegian flagged and classed. She offers us the classroom and accommodation capacity that will serve our programme perfectly and she is certainly one of the most beautiful tall ships in the worldwide Class A fleet. We will post, shortly, the layout and equipment details, photos and a short history of the vessel on our web site. The conclusion of this agreement has been a tenacious night and day activity for the past 60 days. The agreement is a welcome outcome and one that we can, as of last Friday, now share with you. You will appreciate that such arrangements are quite complex and it would have been premature, inappropriate and even a poor negotiating strategy to share this news with you prior to today. We approached 9 vessel operators, worldwide, and actually emerged with our first choice. As Ms. Knight says….”Yippeeee!”

Even as the ink is drying on the agreement, we are now putting finishing touches on an itinerary that will include North and West Africa, the Caribbean, North Sea and circum Atlantic. We will provide details as soon as the vessel’s Captain reviews, edits, and approves our proposals. 

One of the important parts of this agreement was, for us, the right to place as many of our own professional crew aboard as possible. Safety standards, Class Afloat culture and, ultimately, confidence in those persons with whom we have worked for years, were a priori concerns while building the deal. We have achieved that and look forward to re-hiring much of our team. Teachers and leadership are hired and in place … we are ready to go! Class Afloat 2010-2011 will sail from Kristiansand, Norway; students will be picked up at the airport and delivered to the vessel in early September and the programme will operate through until late-May. A mid-year holiday break will be available for students and staff in January. The opportunity to secure a vessel for September, a change in our anticipated schedule for 2010-2011, exceeds even our own hopes and expectations of recent months and we are thrilled to bring our classroom to the world in only 4 short months.

The occasion to secure a vessel for the complete academic year lends itself to extended programme opportunities for the coming year:

1.      High school students registered to join Class Afloat for two semesters will spend both of these semesters at sea - the land-based Lunenburg portion of the programme will not operate for the coming year.

2.      University students wishing to join Class Afloat for two semesters at sea will once again have this opportunity available to them.

3.      High school and university students registered to join Class Afloat for the 2^nd semester sea program will have a choice of semesters – you may join for the 1^st semester only, the 2^nd semester only or you may revise your contract and now join us for two semesters at sea!

We understand that your decision around which semester, if not both, to join us in 2010-2011 may be affected by our sailing itinerary and school calendar and thus we will endeavour to get this important information into your hands as quickly as possible.

Warm regards to each of you … we will forward more detailed information (important dates, confirmed itinerary, visa/inoculation/insurance requirements, uniform order forms, packing lists, revised course offerings etc.) for the coming year to you as soon as possible.  We look forward to welcoming each of you aboard in September or January!

Terry D. Davies
Chairman