If you live on an island, you don't have to learn to sail - you have grown up with wind and weather, with the sea and on small boats. You don't need to pay much attention to a proper sail training ship, such as some continental navies value for training and representation purposes. Nor did the Royal Navy for many decades.

Today, however, when young people in the UK are growing up with smartphones and tablets rather than sea and sand, there is a return to traditional craftsmanship: last summer, the Royal Navy trialled basic maritime and community training for officer cadets on a sail training ship, because young naval recruits who are virtually connected but unable to work in a team now have to "relearn" precisely these traditional skills of a seafaring nation.

They started small. Initially, the concept was tested on board the "Pelican of London", a merchant navy ship rigged as a barquentine with square sails, which cruised for several weeks in the Irish Sea from the Bristol Channel to Belfast.

The 32 officer cadets with their four instructors and some crew ranks were thrilled - afterwards. Some of the cadets were at sea for the first time, far outside their personal comfort zone.

The promising programme is to be continued and consolidated with a charter ship in 2026. Look at that! However, they are not venturing into a tall ship - the money was already spent on the two aircraft carriers years ago.