SEVEN junior members of Broadstairs Sailing Club have helped the Kent team to win the National Schools Sailing Regatta at Portland, Dorset.

They beat 20 other county sides after six days of racing by more than 300 young yachtsmen and women, ending a title reign of more than 10 years by Hampshire.

Broadstairs members made up just under a quarter of the Kent team, the rest being drawn from Deal, Rochester, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge.

The Broadstairs contingent of Ed Cowell, Tim Ellis, James Emby, Brandon Hawkes, Sam Noble and Chris and Ritchie Rebbeck, sailing for their schools (Chatham House, Charles Dickens, St George’s and Dane Court) competed in the classes for Toppers, Laser Radial, Laser and Fast Handicap.

Sam Noble gained 32nd position out of a fleet of 121 Toppers, Tim Ellis ninth in the Laser Radials, and Brandon Hawkes taking 12th in the Lasers, where other than the top three sailors any of the following 18 could have taken fourth.

Chris Rebbeck finished overall sixth in the fast handicap but was the fastest RS300 over the week, despite being towed ashore once when his main hayard broke executing a gybe and he, and his sail, were catapulted into the water.

He and Hawkes will be too old to compete in the Schools National again, although both intend to continue sailing with their respective universities.

More than a day’s sailing was abandoned due to increasingly testing conditions with strengthening winds and choppy seas, which produced exciting racing that exacted great physical and mental demands.