Despite challenging conditions, four pupils showed courage and skill to sail to victory.

Students from Sunninghill Prep School in Dorchester triumphed for the second year running at the annual Under 11 Independent Association of Prep Schools Sailing Regatta.

The regatta was held at the Andrew Simpson Watersports Centre in Portland last month.

The competitive event saw schools from across the UK take to the water in very challenging conditions.

Racing started in dramatic style with strong winds gusting 27 knots.

In the first race the Sunninghill boat, crewed by students Archie and Valentine, capsized but the team skilfully managed right themselves without losing places and sailed over the finish line in second place.

Unfortunately, the second Sunninghill boat, crewed by Erin and Gabriel, rolled downwind and while Gabriel managed to cling on to the boat Erin was unable to get back in quickly resulting in an eighth placed finish.

The second saw Sunninghill victorious with Archie and Valentine winning the second race and Erin and Gabriel placing third.

It was Erin and Gabriel's turn to sail to victory in the third race, with Archie and Valentine coming picking up third.

In the exhilarating fourth and final race, the wind became even stronger but this did not stop the teams doing well as Gabriel and Erin claimed second place and Valentine and Archie achieved fourth.

The whole event ended in a tie, which meant the final outcome came down to who did best in the last race.

That resulted in Erin and Gabriel placing second overall and Archie and Valentine placing third which meant Sunninghill were crowd the winning school.

After receiving the trophy, Gabriel said: “It was really difficult out there racing in the very strong winds and it was pretty scary when our boat capsized. We just kept going and managed to do really well. We’re all really proud of ourselves and delighted that we won.”

Ian Stazicker, Deputy Head at Sunninghill, said he could not be prouder of the pupils.

"It was a really challenging day with strong winds and competitive crews from schools around the UK. I thought that all four of our pupils sailed courageously with a huge amount of skill and composure and it’s brilliant for our school to be winning national competitions like this.”