YOU don't get very fair in the world of competition sailing without a boat, as one Newport sailor is discovering.

Kahla Delahay, 22, is one of the UK’s top sailors and is aiming to compete at the at the Europe class world championships in Denmark in July but has nothing to sail in.

She is now raising funds to take part in the event after a colourful career, which saw her become the first woman in 40 years to win the Llandegfedd Pin in 2012, on "an old wooden boat that was falling apart".

Her boat is now unusable and she needs around £2,000 to buy a sail and charter a boat when she gets there.

She said: "The flights will cost about £50 if I get them at the right time, so I can cover that. But, my boat’s older than me and has fallen to bits, so I need to charter a boat over there and then I know I’ll be competitive."

The former Newport University student, who now lives in Maindee and is a press officer for the students union, first got into sailing in primary school.

At 12, she then started working in a butcher's saving for her first boat. Ms Delahay made £100 and after her mother matched it, she bought an old Topper. After winning a brand new Topper in a raffle she competed in the silver fleet national championships again in 2005, coming third. But after moving to Newport in 2009 to study photography, she sold her boat to pay for rent. She re-launched her career with an old wooden boat after graduation. As well as the Llandegfedd Pin success, she was the first woman at the Tata Steel Open, Port Talbot and came sixth in the British Universities and Colleges Sports championships.

If you’re interested in branded sponsorship on the boat or supporting her, call 07528472762 or email kd.photo.design@live.co.uk