Bermuda?s young men may soon have another option when faced with Regiment recruitment, has learned.

Currently, young men can go into areas such as the Fire Service or the Police Reserves as an alternative to the Bermuda Regiment.

However, by 2005 they may have yet another choice: To join the Bermuda Sloop Foundation.

With the BSF they will be able to spend their required three years and three months of service sailing aboard a traditional Bermuda sloop, helping to educate schoolchildren to be engineers or chefs, among other professions, through expeditionary learning.

While the BSF?s main focus will be on education for young Bermudians in the Island?s schools, they are also encouraging people to join as crewmembers ? a position which young men, for example, would be allowed to take in place of recruitment to the Bermuda Regiment.

?BSF ?mates? would have to do the required 3 years and three months to match the time they would have spent in the Regiment, as is the case with volunteer firemen and St John?s Ambulance volunteers,? said BSF project manager Malcolm Kirkland by email. ?If they leave BSF before that time, they would start over with the Regiment.

?High achievers of the required standards will be encouraged at age 18 to become young leaders (?mates?) serving new teams as part of the community service aspect for which he or she will receive modest compensation,? he explained. ?BSF has applied for deferment from the Bermuda Regiment Tribunal for those in this leadership role.

?BSF will need 24 ?Mates? in any given year with hopefully little turnover so depletion of Regiment will be minimal.?

The BSF is an organisation targeting Bermuda?s 4,900 14-20 year olds, boys and girls, in both the public and private school systems.

?Our vision is to help young Bermudians develop into mechanics or accountants, wherever BSF self-discovery leads, but always Bermudian and global citizens,? said Mr. Kirkland.

The programme aims to build on Bermuda?s maritime history and culture, in particular the traditional Bermuda sloop, to bring young Bermudians together in the face of increasing globalisation.

It also aims to provide an expeditionary learning opportunity for all young Bermudians.

The teamwork and training that can be experienced as a crewmember on a sailing vessel sharpens skills that can be used in virtually any industry, from service to international business to science.

The BSF will be divided into two programmes.

The first, a public school provide, aims to give every middle-school student in Bermuda a one-day introduction to the sloop.

Once students reach high-school they will be able to do technical training on board, as well as the occasional academic ?expeditions?.

There will also be an extra-curricular programme consisting of eight teams of 30, which Mr. Kirkland said will ?reflect Bermuda by race, gender and public/private school participation?.

With the extra-curricular programme, students will attend five overnight voyages per school year and one week-long summer voyage overseas. They will also have a three-hour team assignment to complete every three weeks.

?The social objective is to span growing divide in the community by race and public/private school by providing world class outdoor leadership experience and development using ocean sail training,? said Mr. Kirkland.

?The programme will run nominally from 14-18 year olds, with all character and team, technical and academic project learning documented in a personal log book.?

More information on the BSF can be found at , while more information on expeditionary learning can be found at