SOUTHAMPTON Institute's yachting team is representing England at the Student Yachting World Cup, which starts today in the South of France.

The team, which ran away with the UK national title back in April this year, is made up of eight sailors and two reserves, who have all been students at Southampton Institute in the past year.

The institute is now firmly established as the premier yachting institution in the university sector, winning the British Universities Sailing Association (BUSA) Student Yachting Nationals three times in the last four years.

They have represented England twice previously at the Student Yachting World Cup, producing outstanding performances to come second in 2000 and third in 2001.

This year's event is taking place from today until Saturday, November 1, in a town called Cap d'Adge.

For daily updates on the team's progress at the Student Yachting World Cup, log on to www.sywoc.org.