West Norfolk students crew on century-old fishing boat

​Intrepid students from a King’s Lynn school left the land behind them when they set sail as crew in a 102-year-old fishing boat.

The young sailors from Springwood High School, a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, took part in two sailing trips as part of an initiative between the school and the Excelsior Trust.

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​The scheme was spearheaded by Springwood history teacher Matt Scoles, who runs sailing taster sessions at Snettisham Sailing Club during the summer term, and has been a keen sailor since childhood.

The first outing saw 12 of the school’s Year 9 students become crew on Excelsior, which was built in 1921 to trawl the southern North Sea, and is thought to be one of the last surviving Lowestoft fishing smacks. 

Accompanied by Mr Scoles and Head of Year 9 Victoria Mann, along with two members of the Excelsior Trust, the students performed all the duties of crew on a trip from Lowestoft to Yarmouth.

“The Sailing Trust provides a professional skipper and a leading hand, but due to the age of the boat, the students have to perform the role of crew, hauling all the ropes to set and trim the sails, and taking directions from the professionals to sail the vessel out of Lowestoft and up towards Yarmouth,” said Mr Scoles.

“On the first day, we had torrential rain for the first few hours and poor visibility, but, despite some sea-sickness, they rose to the challenge and persevered through it.”

The second group comprised 13 Year 10 students, who experienced better conditions for their excursion.

“On the second day, Year 10 were blessed with a gorgeous summer’s day and, working as a team, were able to set sail almost as soon as Excelsior was clear of the sandbanks off Lowestoft,” continued Mr Scoles.

Fifteen-year-old Kaine, who was part of the crew, described the experience as “the best day ever”, while Hope, also 15, said: “I enjoyed the trip because we all got involved and had a job to do. It was a fun experience.”

Their fellow crew members agreed, with Willow stating,“My experience from the trip was really good”, and Connor adding: “I felt like Captain Jack Sparrow when I was sailing the boat!”

“These trips provide an opportunity for students to experience something that they have never done before, in an environment that is totally new and challenging,” said Mr Scoles.

“Students need to be resilient and work as a team, and events like this help students to realise just how much potential they have to achieve when they work for it.”