A team from Britannia Royal Naval College have represented the UK in the largest military sailing competition in the world.

Officer Cadet, Patrick Crouch and Midshipman Iona Urquhart competed against 30 other nations at the event hosted by the Indian Naval Academy and held at Ettikulum Bay, Southern India.

They were accompanied by Lieutenant Simon Schnetler who was co-opted as a member of the Protest Committee to help adjudicate.

Each pair was split into A and B fleets and carried out races each afternoon across three days.

OC Crouch raced well and finished in ninth position in his best race while facing good competition from his Australian and Canadian counterparts. He was placed in the top half overall of B fleet and qualified for the gold fleet for the final series of races, which in turn took place over two days.

Mid Urquhart came 21st in her first race and finished in that position in the table at the end of the initial series. She moved to the silver fleet for the finals.

The last day of the competition brought the strongest winds, producing some much faster racing conditions.

The silver fleet, with Mid Urquhart, started the competition. She began in a good position, but after a slight set-back, finished in 10th place.

This moved her up to 15th place in the silver fleet, and 47th out of 62 participants overall.

Meanwhile OC Crouch had another successful day, placing 11th in his final race and finishing 19th overall. Combined, the BRNC pair were placed 15th out of the 30 nations. The overall winners were the Italian Navy.

Lt Schnetler said: “The Indian Navy Admiral’s Cup Regatta started in 2010 with eight participating nations and since then has grown to become the largest military sailing event for the last two years. We had a fantastic time.

“As well as taking part in the competition we also had the opportunity to tour the academy grounds, trek to the top of Mount Dilli and find out about Indian culture with a presentation on traditional Indian dances.

It was a great opportunity for our cadets to meet and interact with so many different cadets from across the world and it will hopefully inspire them throughout their future careers when they undoubtedly come to work alongside many on combined operations.”