ISP Rising Star of the Year

ISP Rising Star of the Year

Sebastian Kempe has been shortlisted as a 'Rising Star' in the Independent School Parent Awards 2022! Finalists will be announced on 7 September prior to an awards ceremony in October.

Meet Sebastian Kempe, age 17, a rising star not only at the Royal Hospital School but also in the world of sailing.

Sebastian joined RHS specifically because of our specialist sailing academy, wanting to find a school where he could continue to train alongside his academic studies. Sebastian began sailing at just three years old, so attending a school which would allow him to follow his dreams was crucial.

The RHS Sailing Academy is a Royal Yachting Association recognised training centre based at Alton Water reservoir, just 5 minutes from the main school campus. RHS is viewed as a school where talented young sailors from around the world are able to combine their studies with specialist sailing instruction and race training.

At the end of 2021, at age 16, Sebastian won the World Youth Sailing Championship 2021 in the Laser Radial (ILCA6) class, becoming the school’s first sailing World Youth Champion. In fact, Sebastian, who is a full boarding student from Bermuda, was also the winner of that country’s first gold medal in the youth championship category. This was doubly sweet for Sebastian as his father had competed in the same competition 30 years earlier.

Sebastian also won the RYA Youth National Championships in Wales in May, and went on to represent Bermuda in the World Sailing Youth Championships 2022 in the Netherlands this month, where he secured a fantastic 2nd place.

Sebastian’s success is not only possible because of the many hours of hard work and commitment that he puts into his training but also thanks to his huge amount of natural talent and world champion mindset, dedicating his life to his training plan; getting up before breakfast to run and train in the gym before the school day begins.

His focus is inspirational to other pupils as they can see first-hand what dedication looks like and the achievement that comes from putting in the effort. Sebastian’s success has also inspired a fellow Bermudan sailor, Nicole Stovell. Nicole joined RHS as a full boarding sailing scholar and is hoping to emulate Sebastian’s achievements.

RHS not only supports Sebastian with his training regime, but also sends the school’s race training coach with him to places such as Oman and Bermuda to give support and advice during the races.

Sebastian was interviewed on ITV and BBC following his win at the Youth Sailing World Championship, which conveyed his passion for sailing. In the interviews, Seb spoke about his ambitions, explaining his sights were firmly set on defending his Youth World Champion title next year, along with sailing in the 2024 Olympics.

This Rising Star is undoubtedly a talented individual and we look forward to seeing his passion for sailing continue into a long and successful career.

Simon Lockyer, Headmaster of Royal Hospital School, comments: "We are delighted that such a talented young man has been able to secure his dream whilst he is at school with us.  We are in awe at his dedication to training and this has not gone unnoticed by his peers. He is an inspiring role model for our pupils and we have seen our other young sailors improve quite considerably whilst training with him. We have also seen an uptake in interest from other young sailors from around the world who want to join our sailing programme, having seen the success that he has had both on a national and international stage.