ABSTRACT
Sail training as a term describes a variety of practices that are referred to by their advocates as youth sailing, youth work at sea, adventure sailing and sail training. It is a modern phenomenon with deep historical roots. Sail training incorporates traditions and practices with differing emphases on types of vessel, criteria for participation, voyage duration and expressed purpose. Theoretical and research perspectives have included psychological studies on the development of confidence and self-esteem (e.g. Grocott, 1999), and sociological analyses using concepts such as social capital formation (Finkelstein & Goodwin, 2005) as an outcome of participation, and the total institution concept (Goffman, 1961; McCulloch, 2002) as illuminating the nature of the experience for participants.
