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TS Royalist has got off to a flying start in Sail Training International's Tall Ships Races 2017.

The first leg of three is now complete, and Royalist achieved first in its class and second place overall – a great achievement, particularly for its opening race.

Our flagship is now preparing to head to Finland, and a new crew will gather at Reigate Unit on Friday evening to fly out from Gatwick early on Saturday morning.  

You can track TS Royalist's progress by visiting: https://yb.tl/tsr2017, as well as keep up to date via Sea Cadets Offshore Facebook page.

Cadets have returned from a trip to the USA, where they met hundreds of their young American counterparts.

Eleven young people from Birmingham Stirling Unit and five from Tile Cross Academy, which has recently joined the Cadet Expansion Programme and forms the Forward Division of Stirling, made the trip last month.

They joined 300 American cadets from 19 high schools in New England that are part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Army League (COMAL), who come together for a five-day Junior Cadet Leadership Challenge (JCLC) every year.

None of the cadets had been to the USA before, and during the trip they gained self-confidence, personal skills and social skills. With the support of the Ulysses Trust, Pupil Premium funding, and the contribution of funds from Birmingham Stirling Unit, no cadet was excluded on the basis of parental income.

Cadet Hannah said: "When I started on the JCLC I was so scared and homesick I wanted to go home and was crying all the time. When it finished I didn’t want to go home and was crying at having to say goodbye to all my new friends. 

"I have learnt so much. It was the best experience of my life so far."

On the evening of Tuesday 4 July, the annual Royal Navy Peregrine Awards were held at Trinity House in London. For the event, the winner of the Sea Cadets category, AC Sally, came to London from Pembrokeshire, where she is a cadet at Tenby Unit. 

The award’s primary purpose is to encourage the production of eye-catching, powerful imagery that can be used in the media to demonstrate the Royal Navy and Royal Marine’s operations. The role of photography, portraying the work of the Royal Navy has never been more important.

Sea Cadets' award is an amateur category, only open to cadets. This year it received it's most entries ever, with photos varying from units on the water, cadet selfies, to the winning shot - the bow of TS Royalist. 

Pictured AC Sally receives her framed photograph with MSSC CEO Martin Coles, Captain Sea Cadets, Captain Phil Russell RN, and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones KCB ADC.

The charity cooperated fully with the BBC Panorama investigation. We are appalled at what happened and unreservedly apologise for any hurt or anger felt. It is not reflective of our organisation today.

We have instituted wholesale, radical change. We have and continue to put in place substantial measures designed to educate and enforce in order to prevent repetition.

Sea Cadets has a zero tolerance protocol and a specialist team to enforce our policies and provide support. We insist on compulsory training for volunteers, and DBS checks for all working directly with youngsters, supported by a 24/7 incident reporting line (displayed in all units), promotion of the NSPCC Childline number and a whistle blowing policy. We work closely with safeguarding experts to review and deliver training to support volunteers; we are accredited by the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services; and we report regularly to the Charity Commission.

Our culture encourages our employees, volunteers and cadets to speak up, disclose and confront any issues. We encourage anyone who is a victim to report it to the Police and anyone with any concerns can speak to our supporter care team (020 7654 7010).

The winner of the Sea Cadets category at the Royal Navy's Peregrine Trophy pohotgraphic competition has been named as AC Sally from Tenby Unit.

Sally said: “I took the winning photo when I was away in October on board TS Royalist. I was out on the dinghy and my job was to sort out the jib sheet, but we got told to wait for a bit. Our Boson took her GoPro out and started taking pictures so I decided to join her and wrapped my camera around my wrist and started taking shots. I then put my camera back in my pocket without looking at the pictures and carried on working on the jib sheet.

"When we came off the bowsprit and moored later that evening, I checked my camera and that was the only picture that wasn't blurry so I was really happy with that! I honestly would never have thought that I would win this amazing award, especially out of all the sea cadets throughout the UK. It's an honour.”

Sally wins a paid trip to London for the awards ceremony in July and an offshore voyage on TS Royalist. 

In second place, was MC Abigail from Blackburn Unit, who took a stunning image on TS Royalist with the sunset and mountain range in the background. In third place, with a commended photograph of her unit sailing a Quest in the sunset is AC Amy from Aberdeen Bridge of Don Unit.