Thames Valley Police – Stantonbury School- XF251020
We had an awesome group of 12 young people, aged 12 to 15, join us on Challenger 3 for a four-day sailing trip along the South Coast.
From 20 to 24 October 2025, they got stuck into life at sea—learning how to sail the yacht, taking on real responsibilities, and figuring out how much teamwork really matters when you’re out on the water. Along the way, they picked up new skills, grew more confident, and made some great memories.
Keep reading to hear all about their adventure, in their own words!
Day 1
Our first day on the boat was so exciting!
After slipping the lines we were on our journey off to the Cowes. It was amazing when first set sail because we had some rough sea yet the crew made sure we conquered our fears had a go at something new!
We learned some cool names of knots and learned how to tie them, after plenty of practice of course…
And after mooring into the Isle of Wight we settled at a spot and started preparing the dinner, we really enjoyed the cooking today, which was pasta, sausage and loads of vegetables to keep us fit and ready for the next task/day
The group is now off to bed, finally get to see if the beds are comfy
Day 2
My first night onboard, it was a fairly good nights sleep. The best experience was when Callum and Kevin snoring in sync. My positive experience however was when I had kind and respectful people in the room.
The boat trip was about 5 hours sailing or a little more. We had great fun putting up the sails. The boat kept tipping to the sides and multiple people had turns driving the boat which was fun.
We sailed from Cowes all the way to Lymington, most of the people on board got very dizzy and nauseous but overcame it quickly with a lot of support from people on board, we worked extremely hard as a team and began to feel like a family together, even if some people are VERY loud…
I also got taught how to read and use coordinates by Jim he’s also are skipper he’s a really nice person!
Amy’s watch made dinner tonight, so I’m kind of excited to try it out, ill give an update on tomorrows blog to see if I’m not poisoned by then…
By Callum, Levi & Ellie
Day 3
Today was the best day yet!
We started our day with the 12 of us climbing the mast!
We continued our day with chilling out as the sail was very calm. After a quick break and some lunch we then went on to do some pole climbing!
This involves attaching a HUGE pole to the mast and we dangled over the sea! Towards the end of today’s sail we all gathered and practised some knots!
Whilst starboard watch cooked dinner, Port watch went for a shower that turned out to be the best this week!
We had some fish and chips for dinner and after cleaning up we are now relaxing and playing card games!
