Young sailors from Burwain Sailing Club won two endurance relay races in an Olympic-themed OnBoard Festival.

The two crews from the Foulridge club won OnBoard interclub race and at Hollingdrake Lake near Rochdale.

Onboard, an initiative run by the Royal Yacht Association, is a programme to introduce youngsters aged eight to 18-years-old to sailing and windsurfing through links with schools, youth centres and training centres.

The endurance races were due to last eight hours but because of gusting winds, the event had to be shortened with sailors coming off the water for two hours to repair equipment damaged be the strong winds.

The Burwain team came off the water in second place in the Sail4Gold race – another initiative run by the RYA that brings the excitement of London 2012 to local waters.

And there was plenty of excitement at Hollingworth as Burwain came back to win.

The format saw young sailors from each of the six clubs involved take it in turn to sail the team’s boat around the course.

The winning Burwain team included Jade Wood, Kady-Jo Wood, Charlotte Gatty, Simon Carter, Finn O’Hurley and Tom Blackburn.

Teams had the choice of reducing the sail area – changing the size of the sail to adapt to wind conditions – or double man the boat to help balance against the gusting conditions.

“The sailors did brilliantly in difficult conditions and it shows the excellent training they have had at their home clubs,” said Nathan Scarll, OnBoard development officer and vice chairman of Hollingworth Lake Activity Club.

“It was equipment failure rather than the youngsters giving up that made us halt then restart the races.”

And there was more join for the club based in Foulridge when they won the OnBoard interclub race.

Victoria Gatty, Jodie O’Hara, Fenella Lamle, Sebastian Mattar and Amelia Dewhurst were all part of the winning team.

n For more information about how to get involved in the OnBoard initiative log on to ruob.co.uk