IT seems like yesterday but is several years ago, when the mighty atom himself Jim Graves walked into my life and we had a conversation which has led to hundreds of young people taking to the sea in tall ships.

This 2018 May Bank Holiday weekend marks the start of the fifth annual Apprentice Ship Cup, the main annual event of MAST, the Merseyside Adventure Sailing Trust, of which Jim is founder and chair.

I had written an item for my Liverpool Echo Shipping Lines page in which I floated the idea that the city should look to its past for the future (a regular plea of mine) and in this case start promoting itself as the tall ship centre for the northern UK.

Jim, whose background was in management and HR for the likes of Royal Insurance and the BMA, read my piece and was fired up by the notion and so we met and he told me that getting involved in tall ships was a life-changing experience for him.

He is an old salt himself, having been a 16-year-old apprentice engineer with Shaw Savil & Albion Lines, in which he sailed three times around the world and was shipwrecked on the Great Barrier Reef while serving aboard SS Runic!

His philosophy reoriented and refined my idea, with a different sales pitch. He sells the Apprentice Ship Cup to 18-30 year-olds as an adventure with a difference. Yes, you’re on a tall ship with all the excitement that entails, but it’s far more profound than that.

It’s really about learning life-skills in leadership, teamwork and personality development. This is particularly effective in selling the idea to companies and groups (although individuals are very welcome too).

As a result, a large number of companies have sent trainee crews (as those that sign up are called) along to participate. No previous experience of sailing is necessary: you are in the hands of qualified professional seafarers who take health and safety very seriously.

Companies and organisations ranging from the likes of Sellafield Ltd, Cammell Laird, Peel Ports, Bibby Line Group, University of Liverpool and Liverpool City Council have all sent crews. One big coup was to involve the Confucius Society with Chinese students. In fact, as well as the British contingent, the Cup has included Irish, French and Dutch students.

This year’s event promises to be better than ever, coinciding as it does with the City Council’s Tall Ship Regatta. They say talk is cheap and actions are expensive, and I can vouch that a colossal amount of work has gone into getting MAST and the Apprentice Ship Cup where it is today.

It also all takes time, but we’re getting Liverpool established as a tall ship centre, if not THE tall ship centre as yet. And I’m very proud to have played my small part in launching and helping to promote this fine idea. Bon voyage Jim and the Apprentice Ship Cup!