Southampton yachting students SAIL to victory

The University’s student yachting team sailed to victory last week, winning the 34th Student Yachting World Cup.

The eight champion yachtsmen: Conrad Manning, Dan Flanigan, Annabel Vose, Jonty Cook, George Johnson, Kate Devereux, Jamie Diamond and Richard Burrows.

The team were up against 11 other countries at the event, which took place in La Rochelle, France, between the 15th and 22nd October.

This was the first time that the University has ever won the competition, and also made them the champions of the Costal Race Series.

According to Ship Science masters student Conrad Manning, the most challenging part of the week was remaining entirely focused on the task at hand. This meant that hangovers were kept to a strict minimum throughout the whole week (until the team’s victory night, of course).

He said:

The win was overwhelming. We were all in complete shock.

Shock promptly led to celebration, however, as would be expected, and the team’s final night is reported to have been very eventful.

Manning added:

When the initial shock was gone, we all just got completely and utterly annihilated!

Champagne celebrations begin!

The yachtsmen faced a whole array of weather conditions during the race, from calm seas and sun to winds of 25 knots. But they battled through. The Jury commented:

The Southampton team provided a masterclass in boat handling.

Congrats to the Soton sailors! Have any other student success stories? Let us know in the comments below!