TWO former pupils of Dauntsey's School, West Lavington, have joined the crew of Blueprint, a former round-the-world yacht attempting a record-breaking circumnavigation of the British Isles this month.

Ed Cook, 20, from Pewsey and Joe Mottram, 21, from Urchfont, will set sail with nine other young sailors, aged 18 to 23, from Ventnor on the Isle of Wight on June 20.

They will face some of the most demanding tidal and geographically challenging conditions in the world in a bid to become the youngest ever crew to sail this course.

The crew must cover the 1,800 miles without outside assistance for the voyage that is expected to take between 10 and 14 days.

They will be sailing aboard Blueprint, the 64ft yacht formerly known as Intrum Justitia, a pedigree ocean race yacht and former holder of the prestigious monohull speed record and runner-up in the 1993/94 Whitbread Round The World Yacht Race.

Both Ed and Joe have sailed together before, mainly on Dauntsey's School's own yacht the Jolie Brise, which won the transatlantic Millennium Tall Ships Race in 2000 with them aboard.

Ed did the leg from Bermuda to New York while Joe was on the transatlantic leg.

Ed said: "I am really looking forward to this trip. It is a terrific challenge and I'm sure we will emerge as better sailors as a result.

"I am studying marine biology at Plymouth University at the moment, so one way or the other, the ocean is going to play a big part in my life."

Ed and Joe got involved with the round-Britain challenge when they crewed for the owners John and Lisa Forbes to bring the yacht to Plymouth.

The young crew, who met for the first time in January, all know they have a gruelling challenge ahead of them, working four-hour watches throughout the day and night.

The crew had its first training session in February, a four-day ordeal which was deemed a success despite windy and unsettled conditions, with winds getting up to 38 knots at times.

The training included survival skills which included everything from emergency flares to "abandoning ship" into life rafts.

The second training session got more serious with the 11 youngsters getting up close and personal in the 64ft boat, without showers, for four days.

Disrupted sleep patterns, dealing with emergency

situations at 3am, sailing in a watch system and learning how to recover a crewmate who had been washed

overboard were some of

the practical problems addressed.

Intrum Justitia, now Blueprint, was built by Green Marine in Lymington, Hants, and was one of nine boats designed by Bruce Farr.

She was launched in 1992 and skippered by Lawrie Smith in the following year's Round the World race.

In a close-run race, Intrum Justitia finished second and claimed a world record for the number of miles sailed by a monohull boat in 24 hours.

Blueprint's progress can be followed on www.blueboxsailing.com