The Finnish Maritime Society, an almost hundred-year-old organisation, was founded in the 1920s to enact a civic movement for the purpose of building a naval force for the young, independent Finland. The tragic shipwreck of the S2 torpedo boat provided a particular incentive for this. The Finnish Parliament passed a special Navy Act, and the construction of the coastal defence ships Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen as well as the submarines Vetehinen, Vesihiisi, Iku-Turso and Saukko was initiated. Additionally, Suomen Joutsen was acquired as a naval training ship, and cadres for our young navy were trained during her eight legendary ocean voyages. These voyages also introduced the Finnish flag and nautical competence to the world.

Following Finland’s wartime involvement, the Navy Society changed its name to the Finnish Maritime Society and began to advocate for the reconstruction of the merchant fleet to focus on raising awareness of Finland's dependence on sea connections and seafaring. As a part of these operations, active youth work and sailing camps were introduced. The goal was to arouse the interest of young people in the sea and maritime occupations. By the 1960s, youth sailing trips were being organised regularly on ships that were rented for boys’ sailing camps. Interest and demand were high.

Plans to acquire a new Finnish vessel

Finnish shipping companies and shipyards considered it absolutely necessary for Finland to have its own sailing ship for training purposes, particularly as a means of inspiring youth towards maritime occupations. The thought quickly evolved into a concrete plan and fifty years ago, on 6 September 1973, a total of 43 people representing the field of navigation, the shipbuilding industry, cities, the government and economic life gathered together aboard MS Aallotar to sign the charter of foundation for the Sail Training Association of Finland and to subscribe to their shares of the basic capital.

A donation made by Lars Langenskiöld, the Managing Director of the FÅA (Finland Steamship Co Ltd), from the funds he received in honour of his 60th birthday added more weight to the plans of the Association. The design of the ship to be built was ordered from the well-known ship designer, M. Sc. Jarl Lindblom. Rautaruukki promised to supply the steel structures for a vessel with a displacement of 120 tonnes. Wärtsilä took responsibility for the building of the hull, while Rauma-Repola promised to take care of the interior work and Valmet to provide the rig and engine as soon as Strömberg had completed the electrical installations. However, an economic downturn made the required financial commitments impossible and the project fell through.

A new phase began when SKOP, the central bank of Finnish savings banks, announced that its vessel, Skopbank of Finland, had just finished her voyage around the world and would be available for youth sailing purposes in summer 1983, free of charge. From summer 1984 onwards, the Sail Training Association formulated an arrangement through which the staysail schooner Lokki could be used for youth sailing trips.

The origin of the schooner Helena

The experiences gained from Lokki as a youth sailing ship were positive in every respect. Based on these experiences, voluntary work became more established and in 1989, the ship was sent off on youth sailing trips to the Caribbean and Iceland for the first time. Also, Finland's participation as a destination for the Tall Ships Races in 1988 and the extensive publicity it brought to the training sail ships reignited efforts to acquire a new schooner for Finland. The decision was made to build the new merchant ship in the form of a shipping company under joint ownership. The most important shipping companies, shipyards as well as representatives of economic life committed themselves to their shares of ownership and utilisation for 12 years. The principal owners and sponsors were Effoa and Finncarriers, KOP (Finnish national share bank), Neste Shipping, Nielsen Shipping, Rauma Yards and Wire-Invest (Wihuri), Containerships, Kvaerner Masa-Yards, Navicon and Niklashipping. Each of them took responsibility for their agreed share of the investment and the same percentage of operating days until the investment loan taken to cover 80% of the construction costs was repaid.

Schooner Val de Marne, designed by the Frenchman Guy Ribadeau Dumas, served as a model for the design of the schooner Helena. Ribadeau Dumas modified the concept to meet Finnish demands. As agreed, the ship was built and supplied by the Uusikaupunki shipyard to enable her to participate in the Tall Ships Races in 1992. The wife of the President of the Republic, Tellervo Koivisto, promised to be her godmother. The displacement of Helena is 110 tonnes, the length 38.7 metres and the sail area over 1,100 m2. She can accommodate 24 sail trainees.

The participating companies were motivated and committed to developing the youth work carried out by the Association. Some of them also used the ship to organise sailing trips for their corporate customers, some even in the Caribbean, while others wanted to motivate their own personnel. All of them were enthusiastic about encouraging young people to go out to sea and learn to take responsibility. Pretty soon it became evident that quite a few young people had been so excited about their experiences at sea that they had chosen maritime occupations, as was the original objective of the Association.  

Helena has been in heavy year-round use. Already twice, she has repeated the routes originally sailed by Suomen Joutsen, and planning for the third voyage is underway. After her many years of use, she was thoroughly renovated in 2011.

In the beginning of the new millennium, the Association managed to acquire the veteran participant of Whitbread Round the World Races, the first Swan 65 Vahine, a 20-metre ketch designed by Sparkman & Stevens that accommodates 10 sail trainees.

The voluntary training work realised by four officers and their trainee crew on the ships is truly amazing. As many as approximately 25,000 young people have been able to familiarise themselves with the fascinating world of the seas, experience the powers of nature and open their horizons aboard these ships, while also learning about the practices of seafaring and what it means to take responsibility as a member of a small group.

Financial support is needed – has the original objective of youth sailing been forgotten by today's maritime cluster?

The COVID-19 pandemic brought hard times for the Sail Training Association of Finland as it was not possible to use the ships at all. Vahine may have to be sold to ease the burden of debt. Also, finding sponsors for youth work does not seem to be very easy in today's world. Many thanks to the Seafarers’ Pension Fund for recently joining the active sponsors.

The Finnish seafaring and maritime industry are currently suffering from an extreme shortage of personnel. They were the original founders of the Sail Training Association of Finland (STAF), which has been operating successfully for 50 years. Back then, they were willing to invest in these types of activities and were specifically motivated by the idea of recruiting young people. Today, none of the companies within the seafaring or maritime industry seem to be prepared to actively support this significant recruitment channel. Would now be a good time to reconsider the power of maritime youth work? Even the Finnish Navy trains its cadets nowadays on foreign sailing ships.

 Text: Mikko Niini, Maritime Counsellor and a member of the Sail Training Association of Finland of 30 years