Between the ages of 14 and 18 and those between the ages of 18 and 25 can sail the ship for five days while it also welcomes pensioners and those with disabilities.

Teenagers benefit from the excitement and experience of sailing while also growing personally as they learn to manage various positions onboard, such as the galley, engineers, navigator, cook, and cleaning while sharing a small space.

On the Brian Ború, Hugh Byrne serves as both first mate and head engineer. Because it “brings shy kids out of their shell and by the end of the week they are all best friends,” he calls the journey “remarkable.”

The majority of the skippers that operate on the Brian Ború received their sailing instruction on the Asgard. In the 1980s and 1990s, Peter Scallan took the Asgard on several trips. For the first time, when he was 18 years old, he realised how these sailing excursions had improved his life.

He joined the sailing team in 2017 because he wanted to be a part of this “culture of empowerment.” He is now the ship's skipper and student skipper. It's astonishing, he adds, to see how people's life can change in only five days.

Scallon witnesses amazing things on board since each day is unique. He witnessed an 18-year-old lad who had never cooked before make dinner for 25 people only last week. He observes how the youth truly bond and create strong connections while on the boat. He said, “I adore it completely.”

He picked up all his knowledge from Captain Eric Healy, a “formidable sailor” he encountered aboard the Asgard. On board the Brian Ború, he now instructs the following generation in sailing.

After the Asgard sank, a group of people came together to create Sail Training Ireland, a foundation that supports the education and travel of young people in Ireland of all backgrounds and abilities. The average cost of the trip is between €700 and €800 per person per week.

The Brian Ború, The Leader, and The Ilen are among the many vessels used by Sail Training Ireland. A typical journey would start or conclude in Cork, Waterford, Dublin, or Belfast, and would make stops along the route at smaller harbours including Crosshaven, Wicklow, Arklow, and Howth.

The Warnock family utilised the Brian Ború as a fishing vessel, mostly capturing herring, west of Belfast in a place named Portavogie.

Although many people at the time did not trust nylon nets since they were new, the Warnock family found success with them. Locally, it was referred to as The Golden Goose.

The late shipwright Tony McLoughlin discovered the boat years later in poor condition, but he knew it was perfect since it was a firmly constructed Scottish boat. A three-year rehabilitation project was started by him. Before Byrne and his crew gained control, McLoughlin opted to sell the yacht after adding masts to it.

Byrne thinks sail training for young people is now "more alive than when the Asgard sailed" thanks to the three sail training boats that are now functioning in Ireland.

Byrne developed a love of sailing and water sports at a young age. He fell in love the moment he set foot on the Brian Ború, and he had no second thoughts about quitting his office job as a mechanical engineer. “Everyone aboard the boat is passionate when they're departing with grins on their cheeks. The kids are the focus.”