The first of the America’s Cup Endeavour students graduated from the programme on Saturday with a special “Sailorbration”.

The event provided the students with a chance to share with their families what they’ve learnt and show the progress they have made since the programme started in October 2015.

“The Class of August 2016 comprised of a diverse mix of students ages 9 through 12 years-old from across all backgrounds in Bermuda who have come together through the AC Endeavour Programme,” said a statement.

“They began their journey with the AC Endeavour after-school programme for 9 and 10 year olds and the AC Endeavour weeklong programme, which all M1 students [11 and 12 year olds] participate in as part of their school curriculum.

“Throughout their participation students were assessed on their educational interaction, on-water skills, attitude and behaviour in order to progress with future programme offerings.”

Close to 200 students were offered a scholarship to further their skills during a two-week summer programme free of charge through the support of presenting sponsor Orbis and corporate partners Butterfield Bank, PwC, Hamilton Insurance Group, Appleby, BF&M, XL Catlin and Hamilton Princess and marine partners Blo’Kart, RS Feva, Hobie, North Sails, O’Pen Bic, Dynamic Dollies, Harken, Magic Marine, VSR and Versadock.

Saturday’s “Sailorbration” saw the co-ordinators award each student with a bright pink T-shirt. Then a demonstration sail and a series of shoreside stations gave the chance for the young sailors to teach their parents about rigging, sailing geometry and points of sail.

Leah Collis, AC Endeavour’s East co-ordinator, said: “Part of the reason for this ‘Sailorbration’ is to demonstrate the growth and development of students. Quite often, parents might not be aware of all the core skills that their children are learning and we want to make sure that, in addition to all the positive elements of the AC Endeavour programme, we’re also helping to grow the relationships between the instructors, our students and their parents. Sailing is one of the most complex and difficult sporting activities in the world and it therefore requires and deserves a lot of support from moms and dads. We hope that many of the sailors involved in AC Endeavour become affiliated with a local club and start to populate the grass roots of sailing in Bermuda. This is the keystone of the long-term success of the AC Endeavour programme in Bermuda.”