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One of the main tenets of the programme is to inspire and it's exactly what happened to Megan Hume when she took the helm of Steinlager 2 earlier this week.
Hume is one of 20 young sailors from around the country taking part in this week's BLAKE Inspire for Sailors programme, a five-day environmental leadership development course being run by both BLAKE and Yachting New Zealand.
For the past three days they've been sailing and living aboard Steinlager 2, the boat made famous by Sir Peter Blake when he won all six legs in the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World Race. But the boat has also become a symbol of what Blake stood for and the important work he did in waking the world up to environmental issues before he was tragically killed in 2001.
"Being where Blake stood was just incredible," Hume said when talking about helming Steinlager 2. "The first time, it was quite a spiritual experience because you could tell the boat had so many stories to tell."
Hume can add to that list but is also now armed with more knowledge about what needs to be done to protect our oceans and how she can help.
The group spent time investigating life on the island sanctuary Tiritiri Matangi, studied plankton collected from off Waiheke Island and heard from some of this country's top marine scientists and environmentalists, on top of sailing around the Hauraki Gulf.
With two days remaining, the young sailors are still due to go behind the scenes at Team New Zealand, take part in a panel discussion with Bianca Cook, Mark Orams and Sarah-Jane Blake and visit the Wakatere Boating Club, where they will review how the club are progressing with the Yachting New Zealand Clean Club programme.
Hume, who belongs to the Wakatere Boating Club, is passionate about the environment and was hoping BLAKE Inspire for Sailors might help her settle on more of a plan for when she leaves secondary school at the end of the year.
"The science is something that I’m really interested in and meeting all the people in the different science fields, it’s really inspired me to push for what I believe in and move into that area in the future," she said.
"Trawling for the plankton sample and looking at them under the microscope was a big highlight. They are the hard workers of our oceans and do a lot for us so to see them up close was really cool."
Collecting the plankton samples.
Marine science is not the only avenue open and one of the things Yachting New Zealand national sport development director Raynor Haagh hopes is that the BLAKE Inspire programme has left others with firmer ideas about their futures.
"These sailors are at a really influential time in their lives," said Haagh, who is helping lead the week's activities. "This programme is exposing them to a whole lot of different careers and opportunities they might not have thought about previously.
"We also really hope some of these sailors take some of these ideas and interests back to their clubs and communities. There’s an opportunity for them to have an impact now within their clubs. Ultimately, they are the leaders of our clubs in the future."
