£1,000 bursary helps islanders to unleash marine dreams

Saturday 02 February 2019

Whether travelling on a tall ship, jet skiing, competing in an ocean race or analysing marine biology... Islanders are being invited to apply for a £1,000 bursary to realise their wildest marine dreams.

A legacy from the three Jersey campaigns in the Clipper Round-the-World Race, the 2019 Jersey Clipper Bursary aims to assist Jersey people of any age to further a maritime endeavour or achieve a "nautical ambition" of any kind.

The annual award was established in 2007 thanks to donations from  Dandara, Les Pas Holdings and UBS.

Pictured: Henry Horton received £1,000 for the Jersey Clipper Bursary last year to gain an RYA Start Windsurfing Instructor’s Qualification in the UK.

UBS recently provided further funding to ensure the future of the award has recently been provided. This has enabled the trustees to increase the main bursary to £1,000 and to offer a runner’s-up award of £500.

The 2018 winner was Henry Horton, one of Jersey’s top windsurfers. The 18-year-old used the £1,000 award to gain an RYA Start Windsurfing Instructor’s Qualification at the Galloway Activity Centre at Loch Ken in Scotland.

The runner’s up award of £500 went to 19-year-old Hannah Behan to help fund the cost of an ocean voyage aboard the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s tall ship, Tenacious.

Henry, who is currently studying for his A-levels at Victoria College, said the Bursary had paid for his week-long course, as well as accommodation and travel.

"Not only did I gain the ability to teach windsurfing to RYA standard but also many new and insightful experiences such as meeting a range of people with varying windsurfing abilities and windsurfing out of my natural habitat on a fresh-water lake," he added.

Henry put his recently-acquired qualification to good use when he volunteered to teach windsurfing to young cadets at the Royal Channel Island Yacht Club in September and October. "I was able to deliver more advanced and refined instruction," he explained.

Pictured: What is your wildest marine dream?

This year, Henry is looking forward to contributing again to the RCIYC windsurfing cadet scheme and assisting the students to improve their windsurfing skills. He is also hoping that a new beginner’s course facilitated by the club will help introduce a new generation of windsurfers into the sport and enable them to receive a high standard of windsurf tuition.

Once his A-levels are finished, Henry hopes to compete in national competitions and undertake further RYA courses. He also plans to use his RYA windsurfing and sailing qualifications to find work in places such as Vasiliki in Greece, a world-famous windsurf and sailing location.

Applicants wishing to follow in Henry’s footsteps can apply for the 2019 Jersey Clipper Bursary by the end of April by writing no more than 200 words.