South Passage is owned and operated by
The Sail Training Association of Queensland.
The Sail Training Association of Queensland is a non-profit organisation and owns the ship. The members of the association are volunteers many with a background in sailing and a desire to make a difference in the lives of young people. Our volunteers are spread all along the east coast from Wollongong to Cairns. Some members of the association enjoy sailing and working with young people whilst others are more involved in vital support activities such as maintenance, developing training material, marketing and administration.
The board of STAQ meets monthly and sets direction for the association. Each director has specific responsibility for a part of the business of running South Passage such as voyage planning, financial management, training of volunteers, marketing and ship's maintenance.
What is sail training?
You may not have heard of sail training. It remains a popular youth development activity in Europe and America with frequent tall ship races and regattas using a range of ships from the massive square-riggers to cutters even smaller than South Passage.
“Sail training is not really about training young people to sail. It’s using that experience to develop life skills. To give them a sense of self-worth, to have them understand the value of teamwork and leadership. It’s such a powerful tool for achieving that and such a great adventure for these young people.”
Nigel Rowe, President and Chairman of Sail Training International
