WATCH: Royal patron brings ‘buzz’ ahead of sailing charity’s Guernsey-Poole race

What started as a drizzly and foggy morning yesterday was flipped on its head with the arrival of the patron of the Association of Sail Training Organisations, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.

The Duchess of Edinburgh was in Guernsey ahead of the Association of Sail Training Organisations’ Guernsey to Poole race. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 33505183)

She was invited to the island by the charity to draw visibility to the work that it does and meet some of the young crew members involved in the scheme as they prepared for a cross-channel race.

Its Guernsey to Poole Small Ships Race sets off today from just outside Castle Cornet at 2pm, with 140 young people crewing 12 sailing yachts in a ‘friendly’ contest.

For many of them, the race will be their first sea voyage.

Watch: ASTO chief executive Kerry McMillan on the vist of the Duchess of Edinburgh and the welcome they’ve received in Guernsey

‘This has been an opportunity for the young people to get out and practice. When they come on board, we like to make sure that they are fully involved in the running of the boats,’ said ASTO chief executive Kerry McMillan.

‘We do lots of drills with them, teach them things and this is the chance to put that into practice.

‘We are absolutely delighted that the Duchess was prepared to come over and spend so much time with us today.’

The Duchess of Edinburgh meeting the young sailors on the pontoons. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 33505186)

ASTO promotes sail training for young people, instilling qualities such as confidence, team work, communication, resilience, adaptability and responsibility.

The young crews will be taking shifts as they sail through the night, accompanied by experienced skippers and mates, and the first yachts are expected to arrive in Poole Quay Boat Haven on Thursday morning, weather depending.

‘What we want is for as many people as possible to know about the life-changing impact of sail training and having someone like her come along, especially when she is a sailor herself, brings a lot more visibility to what we’re doing,’ said Ms McMillan.

‘We approached her because she is our patron, but she’s a patron of a lot of charities and her time is very valuable, so we put together a proposal for her and her team and we were absolutely delighted when they came back and said they’d join.’