Man overboard: Future of boat parties plunged into doubt after third-year’s ‘foolish’ leap into sea

Officials are angered by plunge from boat at Thick as Thieves event last week


Last Friday, a third year student was banned for life from Thick as Thieves events after jumping into Exmouth harbour at the end of the boat party event.

Though the party was supposed to be a great way to round off Freshers’ Week, it appeared some students had just a bit too much fun for the organiser’s liking.

Nice, tame, dry fun.

A spokesperson for Thick of Thieves said “At the end of the trip, some people decided to strip off and jump into Exmouth harbour, which was a pretty dangerous move as there are strong currents.

The boat came to a full stop and the staff were really scared for these peoples’ safety – it’s a big boat, it can hold 250 people, so they couldn’t see where they were.

Eventually they saw them swimming to the edge and climbing out, which was a fair swim.”

The harbour into which the fateful leap was made

It seems it wasn’t just Thick of Thieves who were pissed off by the jump, as a spokesperson for Stuart Line Cruises said:

“I can confirm that during the trip for Thick as Thieves our health and safety regulations were broken by passengers on board.

I wonder how far it is to swim…?

“Whilst no injury or damage was caused it was a disappointing outcome for all involved.”

Whilst rumours quickly began circulating that students would no longer be allowed to attend future boat parties, Stuart Line Cruises have confirmed this is not the case.

“We are happy to confirm that student groups will be accepted for future bookings aboard our boats but they will be subject to more stringent regulations as the crew feel are required.”

Panic not, they decided to let their best customers back after all.

However, the same cannot be said for the student who jumped himself.

In a gracious email entitled ‘Apology’, the third year jumper wrote “George informs me that I am banned from all future Thick of Thieves events, and although this fills me with sadness I understand that I must take responsibility for my conduct.”

In his final farewell to the company, he sadly goes on to write “Thick of Thieves has and always will be my favourite night out, but I respect your decision and will not attempt to gain access into any events for the foreseeable future.”

Never again will he dance in front of this logo.

It seems his “many apologies” went some way to softening Thick of Thieves, with their spokesman saying “We know this wasn’t a malicious attempt to sabotage the event, it was just a foolish move on their part.”

The lifetime ban, however, still stands.