The crew which will sail aboard Havhingsten from Roskilde to Dublin summer 2007 has now been picked and each member has been notified recently.

After two years of training and sailing in, the crew has finally been picked and we’re ready for the off. The ship’s foremen selected the 63 crew during a weekend meeting in November.

The crew selected are for both the first and second legs of the voyage to Dublin. Those who will be on the ‘reserves bench’ – good sailors who can step in in case of sickness etc. were also chosen.

“We have a strong crew an a strong reserves bench. We are so lucky that a great number of the crew which will sail Havhingsten to Dublin have been with us since right at the beginning” said a clearly chuffed skipper, Carsten Hvid.

“We have been in the fortunate situation at there were more potential crew members to choose from than places on the ship. Thus we have been able to choose the strongest of crew for both stages. It also means, of course, that there will be people who will be disappointed in not gaining their dreamt of place aboard - but we have to put the ship’s requirements first.”

Many and varied skills

Choosing a strong crew for such a long and demanding voyage as this – from Roskilde to Dublin - has been a difficult task.

Fortunately we know one another’s strengths and weaknesses through experience now.  During the crew selection process we paid special attention to each person’s ability but with two outstanding requirements:- seamanship and the ability to get on well together with others. Everyone aboard Havhingsten should shine in both these attributes ideally, but each must be really good at one of them at least in order to win a place aboard.  Consideration of the ship and voyage have weighed more heavily than the wishes of the individual… since we must have the best possible crew aboard for both stages of the voyage”.  Physique, endurance and special skills have played a further role in the selection process.

Fresh Forces

According to our plans, the first stage of the voyage will end in the Orkney Islands or somewhere in Northwestern Scotland. There we will be met by our second crew group who will be our fresh forces for the onward journey. However, not all the crew will be replaced:- some will stay on from the first stage - sailing the entire seven weeks from Denmark to Ireland in order to ensure continuity.

Some of our potential crew have been notified that they will not be aboard for the Dublin voyage. “There is nothing unusual in de-selecting crew members. And they are not necessarily asked to remain ashore because they are bad sailors, but because there is just not space for them aboard or they don’t ‘fit in’ aboard a ship such as Havhingsten” explains Carsten Hvid.

As with the summer voyage of 2006, the number of crew places has been reduced from 65 to 63 in order to make room for the film photographer and a researcher on the Dublin Voyage.

Crew selected for both the first and second stages, including ‘reserve bench’ members, are to meet over the weekend of 19-21st January for a voyage briefing.

By Henrik Kastoft