Near the end of the voyage, youth crew elect a command team who take full responsibility for Young Endeavour for 24 hours, sailing the ship along the Australian coast.

[1][2] On 3 August, Young Endeavour sailed from Lowestoft in England to Australia, via Rio de Janeiro, Tristan da Cunha, and the waters of Antarctica.

[2] The "Young Endeavour Youth Scheme" was established in 1988 as a not-for-profit organisation, with a civilian management and administration team based in Sydney, the ship's homeport.

[2][5] The scheme's aims are to develop teamwork and leadership skills in Australian youth, while increasing participants' self-awareness and sense of community spirit.

[5]Under the scheme, 24 to 30 "youth crew" (aged between 16 and 23) join a voyage to supplement the 9-10 naval personnel from the Mine Warfare, Hydrographic and Patrol Boat Force, which Young Endeavour is attached to.

[5] Each voyage typically lasts ten to eleven days, during which the youth crew rotate through most roles aboard the ship, stand watches, and help with Young Endeavour's operation.

[6] Young Endeavour left Australian waters for the first time in 1990, when she sailed to New Zealand for celebrations of the sesquicentennial of the Treaty of Waitangi's signing and the opening of the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

[7] The trip consists of eight separate voyages, each with a separate youth crew embarked: to Rio de Janeiro (the ship's 500th voyage), Cádiz, Çanakkale (with the third and fourth voyage crews aboard for the 100th Anzac Day dawn service off Gallipoli), Southampton (ending with a function hosting Young Endeavour's designer and delivery crew, followed by four weeks' maintenance in the ship's port of construction[3]), Amsterdam (including competition in the 2015 Tall Ships' Race, and involvement in the Sail Bremerhaven and Sail Amsterdam festivals), back to Rio, and Cape Town, before concluding in Fremantle.