Jubilee Sailing Trust: Tall ship company goes into administration

The Jubilee Sailing Trust used the tall ship Tenacious for its voyages

The future of a charity offering sailing experiences to disabled people is uncertain after its associated company went into administration.

Southampton-based Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) said it was closing Jubilee Sailing Trust (Tenacious) Limited.

It said neither trip sales or fundraising could meet the tall ship Tenacious' £150,000 per month costs.

The future of the charity itself is to be decided by the Charity Commission.

The charity previously said it was facing financial difficulties due to the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

In 2019 it launched a fundraising appeal, saying it needed £1m in a week in order to survive. It decommissioned one of its two ships, STS Lord Nelson, the same year.

The charity allows mixed-ability crews the opportunity to sail on its tall ship 'Sailing Tenacious'

In a statement, the trust said it was "without identified income" to make payments, including for regulatory dry docking and staff wages in December.

"The last four years have seen two large-scale funding appeals, refinancing, several restructures, and a reduction in fleet size to one ship - and of course a pandemic.

"Unfortunately neither our voyage sales nor our fundraising efforts have been successful in meeting the £150k/month required to operate Tenacious and keep her legally compliant to deliver our voyages," it said.

It also has an "historic debt" of £477,000 accumulated prior to restructuring in September 2022.

The statement said the JST charity, a separate entity to Jubilee Sailing Trust (Tenacious) Limited, would be reviewed by the Charity Commission as to whether it will be able to continue.

Over 45 years, the charity allowed more than 56,000 disabled and non-disabled people to crew its tall ships. They were designed and purpose-built to allow people of all physical abilities to sail side-by-side.

Thanking its supporters, the JST said: "You brought our mission to every continent, including Antarctica, and provided everyone who has been part of these adventures with memories of a lifetime."