THE TALL SHIPS LERWICK 2023
Reflections on a wonderful event which we were proud to support
The Tall Ships Races Lerwick 2023 has officially come to an end, and we are delighted to reflect on its success, and our own experience as official event sponsors.
Supporting our local community has always been at the heart of our company’s values, so we were proud to contribute to the four-day event in a number of ways.
Our very own sailors
As well as cash sponsorship, we funded three of our employees to participate on a Tall Ship sailing experience, as part of the Races. This initiative aligned perfectly with our ‘Futures’ campaign, which aims to provide opportunities to young people through employment or sponsorship.
Ocean Kinetics employees, Johnathan Goudie and Seamus Malcolmson, joined the Norwegian three-masted barque Stratstaad Lehmkhuhl, sailing from Fredrikstad in Norway to Aberdeen and then on to Shetland.
Johnathan Goudie said, “As a passionate sailor, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to visit Norway and take part in the Tall Ships Races. I really enjoyed using my sailing skills on a ship of this size. And the social aspect, including the shanty songs were a laugh too!”
Seamus Malcolmson said: “I enjoyed learning the nautical terms and sailing theory, meeting new people, and travelling to Norway for the first time was just brilliant. I’d like to thank Ocean Kinetics for the once in a lifetime experience.”
Our third sailor, James Sinclair, joined the Class D, Belgian ship, Patricia in the third leg of the Races from Lerwick to Arendal in Norway. The BM sloop secured first place in its class. James said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Norway on the Patricia. I have met a lot of brilliant people along the way as well. The people in Arendal were so welcoming, and the crew members that I sailed alongside were fantastic! I’d like to thank both Ocean Kinetics and Sail Training Shetland for providing me with this opportunity and making the whole trip happen.”






Supporting the Swan
Continuing the ‘Futures’ theme, and as part of Ocean Kinetics’ ongoing sponsorship of Shetland’s own tall ship, the Swan, we supplied sweaters for the Swan sail trainees for the race leg from Norway to Shetland. Thanks to Shaw for helping design the sweater including the Swan illustration on the back.
Press call
Supporting the Lerwick event, we were pleased to make the Ruby May, our survey vessel, and its skipper, John Clark, available to the press so that they could capture on camera the waterside view of the entire event.

A party on the Sørlandet
To thank the team for all their hard work, we held the Ocean Kinetics summer staff party on board the world’s oldest and most authentic fully-rigged ship, the Norwegian Class A ship, Sørlandet. The team thoroughly enjoyed a well-deserved celebration in the Shetland sunshine.
And finally…
Many thanks to the organisers, participants, and the Shetland community for making the Tall Ships Races a resounding success. We now look forward to Lerwick hosting the event again in years to come.

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