Landlubber lags are keen to swap HMP for HMS… and enjoy some free sailing lessons.
Scores of prisoners have signed up for a day skipper course that will teach them how to captain a boat.
But the bad news for the inmates is they remain landlocked – and the closest they will get to a luxury yacht trip is reading about it in a textbook.
The sailing course has become one of the top 10 prison distance learning subjects. It is laid on for the Prison Education Trust by the East Anglian Sea School, which charges law-abiding folk nearly £1,000 for the full nine-day class.
The course, accredited by the Royal Yachting Association, covers sailing basics such as safety at sea, tides, navigation and passage planning.
It is believed many inmates did not realise there would be no practical experience when they registered for the sessions, offered nationwide.
A source said: “It has raised a giggle or two – and if you work in prisons, you need to take the laughs when you get them.
“The men who signed up must have thought it would be a real jolly. In fact, it is anything but. The course is hard graft and you have to really hit the books.”
The 23 lags who took the course last year also learned about offshore sail and powerboat cruising, how to navigate by the “sun, moon and stars” and use “the sextant, electronic instruments, climatology and ocean passage planning”.
The course blurb states: “This introductory course will give you the skills to navigate familiar waterways, expanding your knowledge of seamanship, the weather and safety at sea.”
But PET confirmed that inmates jailed for people smuggling were barred, adding: “We cannot fund navigation courses for anyone with a conviction for trafficking.”
