Dauntsey’s School tall ship, the Jolie Brise, has concluded a busy summer season which involved sailing about 9,000 miles and visiting 40 different ports.

More than 250 Dauntsey’s pupils joined her crew during the season, consuming some 5,500 meals on board.

The programme began early in July when Jolie Brise and her first crew headed south through the Channel Islands to Brittany.

After crossing the Bay of Biscay, she cruised along the north and west coasts of Atlantic Spain before sailing 800 miles out into the Atlantic to cruise around the sub-tropical islands of the Azores before returning to northern Spain and Brittany.

Jolie Brise ended the season in style when, at the end of August, she joined the Tall Ships Fleet for the Falmouth to Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Regatta.

After two days of celebrations in Falmouth, the fleet raced to the finishing line just off the Isle of Wight, before cruising in company along the east coast to Greenwich.

Skipper Toby Marris said: “We have had a fantastic summer season and the pupils have learnt a good deal not only about sailing but about what they can achieve with a bit of drive and determination.

“I’m now looking forward to welcoming a new generation of Dauntsey’s pupils when the Fourth Form and new Lower Sixth pupils have their first taste of life on board over the next two months.”

Jolie Brise is owned, maintained and sailed by the pupils of the school.

Last year she celebrated the centenary anniversary of her construction by the Paumelle yard in Le Havre in 1913.

The gaff-rigged pilot cutter was the last boat to carry the royal mail under sail and has won the Fastnet Race three times, including the inaugural race in 1925.

For further information about Dauntsey’s School, go to www.dauntseys.org