Name: Alice Butler
Uni Year: 2nd
Degree: History
What first got you interested in sailing: I have been sailing all my life, however, having done my first channel crossing at 6 months old I’m not sure how useful I was!
Tell us a little bit about the sailing you do: Although I do sail dinghies I mainly sail yachts and have been racing keelboats for the past four years. I am the Yachting Captain for Exeter Uni Sailing Club but also participate in all areas of the sailing club. Outside uni I am a member of the British Keelboat Academy, the national squad for Keelboat sailing for 18-24 year olds in Britain. With this I do lots of racing and have access to great coaching. I also race on lots of boats in the Solent.
What is your highest achievement from sailing so far and what are your goals for the future? I think my biggest achievement in sailing was being part of the Exeter team that won the Student Yachting Nationals this year which means we are heading to France in a week to go to the Student Yachting World Cup! I am also really pleased to have made it onto the BKA national squad which has allowed me to progress so much. This summer I went to my first world championship where we competed as an all youth team against some of the top sailors,which was an amazing experience! I really want to make the most of the opportunities on offer to progress my sailing so that in the future, I can compete professionally on the highest level racing yacht circuits in the world!
Would you like to pursue a career in sailing on a professional level: I would love to pursue a career in sailing, it is very hard to make a career competing at the highest level but it is definitely something I would love to achieve. I don’t think I will be the next Ellen MacArthur as personally I cannot think of anything worse than sailing all around the world on my own! However I would love to compete professionally in fully crewed events!
How do you balance your sailing life with life at university? It can be tricky finding a balance between uni work, sailing and having a social life! I sail pretty much every weekend so it takes quite a lot of time management to make sure I have completed my essays with enough time to go sailing, work on my fitness and make it to Wednesday Timepiece!