Jersey Clipper Bursary

Published 11:09 on 16 Jan 2024

MAKE YOUR NAUTICAL DREAM COME TRUE WITH THE 2024 JERSEY CLIPPER BURSARY

ISLANDERS hoping to achieve a nautical ambition are invited to apply for the 2024 Jersey Clipper Bursary a £1,000 cash award aimed at furthering maritime endeavour.

The bursary, which also offers a £500 runner-up award, is designed to assist an Islander of any age to fulfil a particular nautical dream. This could, for example, be a trip on a tall ship, attending a training course, participating in a watersports competition or competing in an ocean race anything with a maritime theme.

The annual award, a legacy from the three Jersey campaigns in the Clipper Round-the-World Race, was established 17 years ago through the generosity of Dandara, Les Pas Holdings and UBS.

The successful applicant will follow in the wake of 2023 winner Natacha Searson, a medical student at Newcastle University, who used the £1,000 to help fund her travel, boat rentals, entry fees and accommodation costs in various national and international competitions.

2023 was an amazing year for me, said Natacha who will be 21 later this month. I won gold at the British Beach Sprint Championships in July and this helped towards my selection to represent Great Britain in the mixed quad at the World Rowing Championships in Italy in September where we placed 5th but had the second fastest time of the quarter finals.

This was an amazing opportunity to row on the world stage with some incredibly experienced rowers, including Olympian Charles Cousins, GB river rower and Boat Race winner Ruth Siddorn as well as experienced beach sprint athletes Jerry Owens and Ryan Glymond.

I was also very proud to represent Jersey at the Home Nations Beach Sprint event in Wales in September, where I placed first in the womens singles. This was all made possible by the Jersey Clipper Bursary, which helped towards the costs of travel, training camps and accommodation.

I am incredibly grateful for having been given this opportunity and hope to continue making the Island proud in the future.

The winners of last years £500 runner-up award, the Intrepid232 team of rowers Rosemary Satchwell, Helene Monpetit, Alison Smithurst and Julie Brady, put the money towards the costs of participating in the gruelling Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge that started last month.

At the time of writing the quartet are just over half way through the 3,000-mile test of endurance, hoping to become the oldest female fours crew to have ever rowed any ocean while raising money for the Grace Crocker Foundation and the Blue Marine Foundation.

Islanders can apply for the 2024 Jersey Clipper Bursary by outlining their particular nautical ambition in no more than 200 words in an email to philipjeune@gmail.com. The deadline is the end of April.