Five days of sailing, sea, salt and sand, plus a trophy.

Ten Year 10 students from Burnside High School sailed with and competed against similar teams from Logan Park High School, Te Kauwhata High School and Havelock North High School on a five day adventure on board the Spirit of New Zealand, from 19th to 24th September.

Sophia Alexander 10NMRR, Alfie Buttle 10WZHY, Jack Buttle 10WZHY, Oscar Evans 10SWGJ, Jordyn Mair-Burke 10NSTK, Laura Marshall 10WMNS, Curtis Shanks 10SCRJ, Romy Smith 10WMNS, Evangeline Tiong 10NMRR, and Ayla Unsted 10SPHC learnt how to set and strike the sails, tie knots, work as a team on a variety of challenges on board, as well as having plenty of fun and adventures. This included a 6:30am swim each morning, raft paddling, trips ashore to explore some of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf, as well as a nightly group competition in the aft cabin.

The program they completed is designed to be a mix of group and individual challenges, with opportunities to learn about and display leadership. The students all reported on having had a great time on board, and would recommend this trip to anyone who might be interested. Seeing and swimming with dolphins was a real highlight, as well as meeting and making friends with lots of people from all over the country.

At the end of the voyage, we had accumulated the most points of all the schools, so we got to being the Voyage 849B Trophy home. It is currently in the safe-keeping of Mr Holstein.