At the age of 12, he had never set foot on a sailboat before — let alone sailed one.

Now two years later, Brian Bulhoes has already represented Bermuda on the international stage.

But after completing the Water Wise Programme for students in Government Middle Schools, Brian last placed 19th out of 180 sailors at the South American Championships and can no longer imagine a time when sailing was not part of his life.

He has plans to join other graduates of the Water Wise Programme, when they head to Newport, Rhode Island for the New England Championships later this year.

"I'm really fortunate because there are lots of people who would like to be doing this," he said. "I had never even thought about sailing before taking it at school.

"It's the best thing I do. I find school easier and I may have some hard times, but I get through them with sailing."

And that is the type of life lesson Gus Miller, founder of Bermuda's Water Wise Programme, envisioned when he coordinated the first programme at Spice Valley Middle School in 2000.

Mr. Miller said: "The Water Wise programme is everywhere. There are 85 schools in New Zealand, some in Brazil, Sweden, Estonia and in the United States they have six.

"But none are as far developed as the one in Bermuda because here we go deeper into the classroom part of it.

"Each child keeps a journal about their experiences, which are then collected and given to the language teacher. There then may be an award for the best essay, for example."

And this year marks the first time the programme, which has been so successful is in all five of the public Middle Schools through the coordination and hard work of Darrin Lewis of the Department of Education.

Paul Doughty, one of the coaches for the programme said: "It's really part of the school curriculum. We give chalk talks to the kids about what makes Bermuda's weather, the history of sailing and the 'golden age' of it here in Bermuda.

"They learn the points on the compass and it also becomes a bit of a geography lesson."

And the day The Royal Gazette met with Mr. Miller and Mr. Doughty, Mr. Miller said he was happy to report an expansion of the programme.

Mr. Miller recently met with Education Officers for Math, Language and Arts, Social Studies, and Science who were all interested in integrating Water Wise with their classrooms.

For example, Mr. Miller said if students are learning about shapes in Math class they can try to estimate the size of the hull, giving them "real-life" translations of the topic.

As the Water Wise programme stands now, they participate in a dry-land work-out, which includes working with an optimist sailboat on wheels for their Physical Education classes.

The dry-land work gives kids, who like Brian have never been on a boat before, a chance to understand the working of the sailboat before they are ever released onto the water.

Mr. Doughty said: "We start the classes in March and there are four dry-land sessions in two weeks and then the kids are released from school for four days for the water-training.

"We find with the dry-land sessions beforehand the kids pick it up very quickly."

And pick it up quickly is what they have to do in a sport like sailing, as Dimitri Stevens of Dellwood Middle School learned.

He said: "I kept getting hit by the boom. That wasn't nice. I though the land part was boring but I really like it now and I want to go further with it."

Tareko Wilson, 13, of Dellwood School also expressed his initial concern about sailing. He said: "At first I wasn't sure about it. I thought sailing was mug because I thought you just sit on the water and don't do anything.

"When I first got on the water though there was so much to do and I really used the skills I learned on land."

And that is what Mr. Miller says is so difficult for many of the students — on the boat they have to act on their own — this aspect is also the most rewarding, however.

But the character they build and the friendships formed from the sport go far beyond the classroom and the water.

He said: "We are breaking down the barriers. We have boys from Dellwood considered the town school and boys from Spice Valley, considered country, but they are forming friendships now that could have a profound difference later in life."

Mr. Doughty believes it is because of what they learn on the water. He added: "The child is empowered to make a decision when they are out there. They have to make a decision and they own it.

"The first couple of days we have tears and frustrations, but you quickly see a real change. All the problems really come out, but they learn they have to be cool, calm and collected. It really helps with their confidence.

"But safety is always stressed. So is respect for nature, the equipment and the self."