Rising Cheshire star Elliot Hanson is laying down the gauntlet to Britain’s top young sailors at the forthcoming national championships.
The 16-year-old from Macclesfield will be among 250 of the UK’s best youth dinghy racers as they bid to land gold at the 2010 RYA Volvo Youth National Championships this Easter.
The waters of Weymouth and Portland will host five days of battle at what is regarded as Britain’s premier annual youth sail racing event.
Hanson is a former Junior Topper World Champion, and is tipped as a star of the future.
Having come fourth in the Laser Radial class at last year’s event, he has asserted himself as a real contender for early success in the class.
Taking on competitors two years his senior is a huge challenge but Hanson will be gathering all the experience he can at the event in his quest for eventual Gold.
Listed among previous big name RYA Volvo Youth National Champions is Macclesfield’s previous sailing superstar, three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie.
As always the event doubles as a selection event for July’s Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships, which this year will be staged in Istanbul.
Last year, Great Britain picked up a gold and silver at the event as well as finishing second in the prestigious Volvo Trophy for the top performing nation.
RYA Youth Racing Manager Duncan Truswell said: "Those who clinch the highly sought-after national titles at Weymouth and Portland will have really earned their victories."
"Pinpointing potential medallists is never easy as the stakes are so high at the event and these are the countries best sailors and windsurfers going-head-to-head desperate to win."
"Those who have prepared effectively for the event, developed good, robust, routines to manage the pressure of the regatta will find it easier to maintain consistency which is the key to winning, but nothing can ever be taken for granted and I’m really looking forward to seeing how things unfold."
