Windseeker Intercultural Navigation & Discovery
Join the WIND Challenge and create your own sailing adventures!
Have you ever wondered what life on board could be like if you were the one making the calls? What if you could take the helm and decide what happens during the journey?
After more than 20 years organising youth exchanges, we’ve decided it was time to give more power to you: the trainees. We want to hear what you would love to experience and learn along the way. That’s why we are doing a collaborative project, where your voice is as important as that of the captains (at least until we all step on board!)
WIND: Windseeker Intercultural Navigation & Discovery is more than an exchange, more than a race, and more than a sailing adventure. It’s a project created by young people, for young people. It is not a single journey, but rather a series of events with different themes – so that everyone’s voice can be heard, every vision brought to life. There are two legs on different ships, connected by the values of youth participation, inclusivity, and sustainability. All of that supported by a Sail Training program on board impressive tall ships – WIND is a truly unique project!
When you sign up, we will send you a short form with questions about your hopes and expectations. Your answers will help us shape the project, and if you’re up for it, you can take it one step further and join the team of young people to build the programme together.
Join us now, and help to shape the journey!
If you have any questions or notes, please contact us by e-mail at erasmus@windseeker.org.
What can you expect?
Sail Training on a tall ship
International exchange
Mini-regatta between the participating vessels
Meeting up with other ships for land activities
Mentors to support you on board.
Everything else is up to you and your fellow trainees!
LEG 1: Brest - Den Helder
Brest (France) - Den Helder (the Netherlands)
Dates: 15-25 July 2027
Ages 15-25
Ships: Morgenster, Gulden Leeuw, Wylde Swan
Price for 9 days: € 1125
Ships: Morgenster and Wylde Swan
Live together with trainees from other countries, try different cuisines, listen (and dance!) to international music, and learn how to thrive in a multicultural environment, supported by Windseeker mentors. Participate in a plastic research: collect water samples, analyse them for microplastics, make your own plastic-free cosmetics, and learn about marine wildlife. Join a friendly competition, racing for honor and glory, and follow it up with bbq together on shore and make even more new friends.
Learn moreShip: Gulden Leeuw
Practice Sail Training, while creating a mini-country with your fellow crew mates. Sail from France to the Netherlands, learning to navigate, steer, climb the masts, and keep lookout. Make international friends, and together build a community, with its own flag, hymn, and governed by the laws you come up with. Practice democracy and inclusion, sharing your culture and learning about others’ to come up with a mix that works for everybody.
Learn more
LEG 2: Den Helder - Rostock
Den Helder (the Netherlands) - Rostock (Germany)
Dates: 25 July - 4 August 2027
Ages 15-25
Ships: Gulden Leeuw, Wylde Swan
Price for 11 days: € 1375
Ship: Wylde Swan
Sail from Den Helder in the Netherlands, around Denmark, towards the German Rostock, in an international exchange with three vessels. Make new friends, explore different places, and participate in a friendly race with other tall ships, followed by a get-together to celebrate on land. Learn to sail a tall ship, working in watches to steer, navigate, climb the masts and adjust the sails. This unique project combines international exchange with some racing for the best of both worlds. What more could you want?
Learn more
Ship: Gulden Leeuw
Join Gulden Leeuw for a beautiful journey from the North Sea to the Baltic. Step on board in the Dutch maritime city of Den Helder and leave the harbour through a lock, before setting sails and starting to learn the ropes! Climb the masts, steer, keep lookout and navigate, as you sail around Denmark and then on to Rostock. Along the way you will visit new places and join a regatta with other tall ships. On board you will meet young people from different countries, and together with the mentors you’ll create a community governed by values such as inclusion, sustainability, and responsibility. Learn about different cultures, make new friends, and become more confident in your abilities through fun games and challenges – and of course, Gulden Leeuw’s award-winning Sail Training program!
Learn moreMore about the WIND
How is this project different from your other journeys?
The WIND Challenge combines Exchange at Sea with a small regatta, for the best of both worlds! It’s a comprehensive international youth project, encompassing several different journeys, each with different themes. Trainees take an active part in designing their journeys from the start, and even those who join later can give their opinions on the final version on the activity program through online forms and pre-journey meetings.
How can I give my input?
After sign-up, you will get an email from us with a link to a short web form, which you can fill out to tell us about your ideal journey. We will then collect all of the responses and organise an online meeting with interested persons to finalise the plan.
What sorts of things can I propose?
You can propose any ship- and land-based activities, such as games, challenges, eco-actions, cultural events, collaborations with other organisations, presentations, and anything else that comes to mind.
Can’t think of anything specific? It’s okay – you can also let us know what you would like to learn or experience, and we will brainstorm together how to make it happen!