A youth sailing charity joined forces with a sailboat racing league to help educate youngsters on the science of sailing.

SailGP’s STEAM through Sailing Challenge put 13 pupils through a virtual crash course on maritime technology and engineering during their spring break last week.

Aaron Lugo, an M2 pupil at Clearwater Middle School, in St David’s, said: “I enjoyed the building and participating in the daily challenges.

“I wish we had more challenges on the weekend because I enjoyed it that much.”

The pupils from five middle schools studied a different concept each day and designed and built several structures to demonstrate their knowledge.

Youngsters were encouraged to build their structures, which included catapults and pulleys, with household items and test them to better understand these concepts.

They also ended each class with a virtual reflection session where they had the opportunity to explain the design and building process as well as ask their peers any questions.

Isabel Welch, a Year 8 pupil from Bermuda High School, said: “I enjoyed the building projects. The projects were fun and I loved the great feedback from the SailGP Inspire team.”

Pedro Durrant, a Grade 7 pupil from the Bermuda Institute, added: “I enjoyed completing the challenge activities – although some were harder than others, it was good.

“It was fun to test out pulleys in my kitchen to transfer water from my kitchen sink using a smaller bucket into a bigger bowl.”

The programme only accepted children who participated in the Endeavour Graduate Programme.

Tom Herbert-Evans, the manager of the SailGP Inspire Youth Programme, said: “We are thrilled with the positive response from the Endeavour grads who joined us for the Inspire Learning virtual STEAM through Sailing Challenge.

“It was amazing to see the students put in so much effort for each part of the challenge.”

He added: “We loved that they asked engaging questions and truly enjoyed watching them create and share their awesome designs with great pride and excitement.

“There are definitely future naval architects, engineers, boat builders and maritime professionals among the group.”

Tia Tankard, the community engagement coordinator at Endeavour, thanked the pupils who participated in the programme.

She said: “They inspired us with their efforts and enthusiasm and we are delighted they had this amazing learning opportunity thanks to Endeavour’s partnership with SailGP Inspire.”