Southampton Institute’s student yachting team have become world champions after winning the Student Yachting World Cup in France.

As the English representative, they went one better from their second place finish last year, to finish at the head of the international fleet, beating the American team into second place, with the Swiss team in third place.

The event took place from Sunday, 24-29 October, with races starting at La Baule, near Nantes on the western coast of France.

The successful team was made up of eight sailors and one reserve, who have all been students at Southampton Institute in the last year. The team produced an outstanding performance throughout the week, never finishing below fourth place in all except one race in the six-race series.

The event took place from Sunday, 24 October to Friday, 29 October, with races starting on Monday, at La Baule, near Nantes on the western coast of France.

The successful team was made up of eight sailors and one reserve, who have all been students at Southampton Institute in the last year. The Institute is now firmly established as the premier yachting institution in the university sector, winning the British Universities Sailing Association (BUSA) Student Yachting Nationals four times in the last five years and are current champions. They have represented England three times at the Student Yachting World Cup, producing outstanding performances to come second in 2000 and 2003 and third in 2001.

In recognition of its yachting excellence, Sport Solent, the Sport and Recreation Service of Southampton Institute, has been successful in winning the bid to host the Student Yachting Nationals from 20-24 March 2005. The strength of the bid was based on the knowledge and experience of staff in SRS, the student sailing team and the collaboration with the Royal Southern Yacht Club who will be responsible for the race management. Bids were invited from all higher education institutions around the country. The event will see around 25 universities competing in four days of racing, introducing approximately 200 students to the winning environment of