Officer helps youngsters set sail with restoration efforts

A police officer is setting sail with students from Featherstone Technical College after helping them to restore an old boat.

Wakefield District Division youth and schools officer, Pc Matt Grayson, was looking for a project to interest the students as part of his work with the school and community.

He decided to use his teaching experience as a Royal Yachting Association sailing instructor to get the youngsters interested in renovating an old sailing dinghy.

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Pc Grayson said: "I told the students that if they helped me to renovate the boat then I would teach them to sail."

The police officer worked with the Going Green student group on the project.

An old Mirror-class dinghy arrived in the college workshops in January, where, under the eye of technician Tony White, it was dried out prior to renovation.

"Every Tuesday afternoon the group worked really hard at removing the old paint on the hull, sanding down the interior and the foils," said Pc Grayson.

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"Mr White and I discussed the best way to repair the front which had water damage and this was carefully reconstructed as the project went on."

Meanwhile, back in the classroom the students were taught about the basics of sailing, looking at wind and its direction and also learning about knots.

The group used a voting system to decide the colour of the hull and also the name of the boat – which they christened FTC DEFIANT.

The FTC DEFIANT was finally launched recently at Pugneys Country Park. Mr White said: "It's been a fantastic project turning an ugly duckling into a swan. The Going Green group should be proud of themselves".