Christopher with the test-piece rope on which he demonstrated the nautical crafts of splicing and whipping.

Read Sea Cadet Christopher Leach has become the first member of Burnley Sea Cadet Corps to win the Harrison Line Trophy, and now looks forward to a coastal cruise during the summer holidays as his prize. Christopher, of Straits Lane, went on a week-long course on HMS Raleigh in Plymouth, where he studied sailing and general seamanship. At the end of the course he took an examination and scored the highest marks in the petty officers' section - and won the trophy. A pupil at Gawthorpe School where he is studying for his O-levels, Christopher only went to Plymouth at the last minute: "The boy who should have gone from Burnley was taken ill, and I stepped in a few days before the departure," said 15-year-old Christopher, now a Cadet Petty Officer.

A Cadet for the last three years, Christopher has little time for hobbies apart from those connected with the Sea Cadets, but he does enjoy collecting model aircraft when he has the chance. He is looking forward to a career either as a radio officer in the Merchant Navy or a navigation officer in the Royal Navy, and is hoping to go to Broadwaters Nautical College in Fleetwood when he completes his exams. Christopher has two brothers, Jeffrey, who is 26, and nine-year-old Peter, who hopes to join the Cadets when he is old enough.

The cruise will probably last between one and two weeks, but Christopher is unlikely to know his destination until a few days before he is due to sail.