Student sails into his dream career

A Dunstable student has swapped the more traditional career path of university for a life on the sea as he sets sail on a dream career working as an officer on luxury superyachts.

Jarvis Brooks-Lampard, 19, began his training in October after being awarded a bursary by the Trinity House and has graduated from the first phase of the Professional Yacht Cadetship (PYC) at maritime training provider and youth charity UKSA on the Isle of Wight.

The PYC combines study sessions and sea phase training to prepare for a life as a deckhand whilst training for a long-term career on superyachts.

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Jarvis has also chosen to complete a foundation degree in operational yacht science delivered in conjunction with Falmouth Marine School and validated by the University of Plymouth. At the awards ceremony, Jarvis was awarded a Special Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement.

Jarvis said: “I did apply for university. I had chosen Southampton and Portsmouth in the hope of doing plenty of sailing with a career in product design. But why go to university when I can do this course and do something I love! I found out about the course through Sea Cadets – one of the phase 2 cadets came and spoke to us and it inspired me to take on the course. I am the first member of my family to step onto a boat. The course is the perfect alternative to university, I was worried I would miss out on the social side of things, but this was completely the right decision.”

UKSA’s cadetship manager, Emma Baggett, said: “With expensive tuition fees and graduate unemployment rates, vocational training has definitely become the new university – and the PYC is particularly in demand because of the funding support we offer through the Professional Yacht Cadetship Bursary (PYCB). We currently have 158 cadets out in the industry and it is our global relationships with crew agents and captains themselves that make the cadetship so successful. This support, which carries on throughout their careers, is unique to UKSA.”

For many of the cadets like Jarvis it isn’t the end but the start of something new and they embark of their unique career journey. With the Foundation Degree recently being granted full-time status it can now be applied for through UCAS, plus successful cadets will be able to apply for student loans to assist them - as well as taking advantage of all the other associated benefits that full-time students enjoy.

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The application and selection process is underway for the October 2016 intake. For further information on this year’s intake or future training visit, http://uksa.org/professional-training/deck/superyacht-cadetship/ or call 01983 203038.