By John Grenville-Goble, Head of Marine at Tradewind Voyages

For the past few months, I’ve been pouring over routing charts as we plan our itineraries at Tradewind Voyages.

These charts have been plotting prevailing winds around the world for the past 150 years.  The charts are re-issued every 15-20 years, but there are only ever very small changes, so we can be pretty confident they are accurate.

They are crucial for us as our philosophy is built on using the wind and currents to follow the sun, allowing us to sail as much as possible when we head east in August 2021.

We want Golden Horizon, the world’s largest square rigged sailing ship, to offer the most sustainable voyages at sea and this is what makes us different from other companies.

We aim to sail, without using engines, for an average of 70% of our voyages.  It’s a huge task to get the right balance of wind, current and climate, so that passengers have a wonderful holiday.

We are taking people to see the world but, for us, the ship is also the destination and we will go where the wind takes us.  If, for example, the wind is not going to Rio, then we’re not going to Rio because we plan the itineraries based on the wind patterns.

In the Far East, the winds dictate that we sail through the Japanese island chain via Okinawa and then on to Nagasaki.  Others are more likely to take the inshore route via Shanghai and Vietnam.

Following the winds and the sun also means that we will visit some fascinating destinations that are off the beaten track, such as remote ports in India and Indonesia.

Our adventure will start in May next year, when we bring the ship to the UK for a series of itineraries from Glasgow and Harwich.

Even on these trips, we are using the elements wherever possible.  On our ‘Wonders of Iceland’ voyage, we’ll sail clockwise around Iceland and proceed to Reykjavik and the Faroe Islands before heading to Scotland – if we take that route the winds should be in our favour.

We’re confident our philosophy will appeal to adults who have a love of the sea as well as travel.

On our ship you’ll be lower down than many modern ships, as there is just six metres from the water line to the deck.  You’ll sometimes feel the splash of the sea!

That shouldn’t be any cause for concern to anyone thinking about a voyage, though!  At 162 meters long and 18.5 meters wide, she will ride the waves and with 35 sails on five masts is built to cut though the water smoothly.