Navy all at sea over ocean training for young recruits

A Navy desperately short of training berths has hired New Zealand's only private sail-training ship to give young officers their first taste of the sea.

The Navy has sent midshipmen to sea twice this year on five-day voyages on the three-masted, square-rigged sail training ship Spirit of New Zealand.

Since the Navy's 34-year-old Leander-class frigate Canterbury was retired earlier this year, the Navy has been desperately short of training berths.

On the first voyage this year was Navy officer, Lieutenant Commander Andrew Saunderson from the Navy's Officer Training School. In the latest issue of the Navy magazine, Navy Today, he said it was surprising many young officers joining the Navy had little experience of the sea and had to develop their maritime skills from scratch.

The main aim of the voyages was to introduce the midshipmen to a leadership role, both as leaders and team members.

He said the voyages were a success and more were planned next year.

However, Spirit of Adventure Trust chief executive John Lister said fitting the Navy into an already tight schedule for the training ship was difficult.

He said the ship's schedule was booked two years in advance.

The trust charged the Navy $20,000 for the five-day voyages and did not make a profit.

"We have always believed the Navy has played a part in what we do and we are happy to have them there. We are not in the business of making money. We are in the business of youth development and these guys are youth," Mr Lister said.

Spirit of New Zealand skipper Paul Leppington said the voyages showed the Navy midshipmen the basic fundamentals of life at sea.

"Half the stuff they are doing suddenly falls into place when they stand there and think, 'hang on if I let this go he is going to fall.'

"In the modern Navy they just don't have stuff like that."

The Navy also regularly uses a fleet of private Warbird jets and other aircraft to train with its Anzac-class frigates since the demise of the Air Force's Skyhawk air combat wing.

- NZPA