WHAT IS "TITANS UNDER SAILS"?
Titans Under Sails is an NGO that organizes rehabilitation sailing trips for defenders — primarily those who have lost limbs and/or returned from russian captivity. Sailing rehabilitation within the project combines physical exercise, sailing instruction, teamwork, and psycho-emotional recovery. Over 7 days, all crew members create a comfortable environment for living together on one boat with fellow soldiers, volunteers, and a skipper.
OUR GOAL
To provide defenders with an environment where physical activity, shared responsibility, and the open sea achieve what a rehabilitation center cannot: a person is in a place without walls, while there is a destination and the ability to reach it — and this changes the way they see themselves.
OUR MISSION
To support the recovery and reintegration of defenders through rehabilitation sailing trips — an environment where each participant once again feels their own capability, finds the support of brothers-in-arms, and returns to an active life with renewed strength.
WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT
Coming home from war is the beginning of a new journey — one that can be very difficult to start, and for which it is hard to find the right direction. For those who have lost part of themselves or have gone through russian captivity, this path is especially challenging: they must rebuild their relationship with their own body, find their place in peaceful life, and believe that personal and professional growth is still ahead.
Sailing rehabilitation is not an alternative to other forms of support, but a meaningful and unique addition to the process of restoring strength and self-belief. It is an environment where the natural conditions of the sea, teamwork, and shared life on board together create an experience that is hard to replicate in a closed space. When the wind fills the sails and the crew acts as one — a person once again feels their own strength, feels supported, and understands that there is still much ahead that is new and possible.
HOW WE MAKE IT HAPPEN
Sailing rehabilitation is a unique and unconventional form of rehabilitation process, available to defenders who are ready for additional physical challenges. Driven by the initiative and proactivity of veterans in Ukraine, we as an organization have found ways to expand and improve rehabilitation — one that involves not only acquiring new sailing skills, but testing oneself under new conditions with the steadfast support of volunteers and fellow soldiers. Since 2025, we have organized 7 rehabilitation sailing trips for approximately 100 defenders. Here is how it works:
On board, there is no division between those giving and receiving help. Defenders, volunteers, and the skipper are equal crew members. Everyone stands watch, handles the sails, and is responsible for their share of the work. This equality and shared responsibility is the foundation of the rehabilitation environment.
A volunteer-participant pays for their own place and the defender’s place on board. The defender participates free of charge. Skippers are experienced volunteers who navigate the vessel and teach the crew sailing skills. This model allows expeditions to run without dependence on one-time funding.
Every trip is more than just the sea. In the countries where we sail, we organize meetings with the Ukrainian diaspora and local media. Defenders have the opportunity to speak about the war and about recovery abroad, and to see that Ukraine is supported around the world.
OUR RESULTS
Since January 2025 — seven rehabilitation sailing trips in the Canary Islands, Greece, and Croatia. Over one hundred defenders and just as many volunteers. And in 2026 alone, four trips took place in the Canary Islands within a single month, during which 46 defenders and 53 volunteers completed the sailing rehabilitation program.
Participants return with concrete changes in how they perceive their own capabilities and desires. Defenders who were unsure at the start of the trip whether they could manage are, within a few days, steering catamarans, hoisting sails, and completing sea passages with greater confidence in their bodies and abilities. They gain new practical skills, build relationships with people who share similar experiences, and come home feeling they can do more than they thought. Some of our Titans now sail professionally, others have risen from wheelchairs and are actively using prosthetics again and two of our Titans even created a business plan for veteran-led initiatives during the trips.
The vast majority of volunteer patrons return with a desire to stay involved and support defenders on future trips. Volunteer skippers sign up again on their own initiative, without any financial compensation, simply to experience another extraordinary seven days as part of the Titans team. This is the most accurate measure of our program’s effectiveness and of what happens on board.
We also work on building effective cooperation with various organizations abroad where the sailing rehabilitation takes place. Each trip receives media coverage in Ukraine and internationally through meetings with the Ukrainian diaspora, local communities, and media outlets.
