Our young sailors inspired by Ellen

Hannah Tilley, 11, of Llandenny, Raglan, and Kate Stanley, 13, of Earlswood, near Chepstow, both go to Llandegfedd Sailing Club, Cwmbran.

The youngsters have been selected for the National Youth sailing squad and are training hard for the UK National Championships.

The competition will see them pit their sailing skills and race against hundreds of other sailors.

The girls will be sailing Optimist dinghies - just seven-foot long.

Kate said: "They might look small but there is only one person in a boat and I still weigh under six stone.

"They can be quite a handful in a strong wind with big waves on the sea. And you have to think about all the other competitors as well - there can be 100 boats around you!"

The girls say Ellen MacArthur is a their hero and winning this race could put them well on the way to similar glory.

Hannah would like to follow in the footsteps of the world-champion.

She said: "I got Ellen's autograph two years ago. She is my hero and she started off in boats just like these."

The girls have a string of sailing successes already.

Hannah won the national junior schools' championships last year beating all the boys in the event. She still has two years to go racing in the Optimist junior class before progressing to a senior fleet at 13.

During the summer Kate came second in the South Wales youth racing circuit series, which includes both junior and senior sailors.

This May, Kate will be representing her country at the Eric Twiname Championships, competing against sailors from across the UK.

Richard Twining, of the Welsh Yachting Association, said: "Kate and Hannah are two of 15 very talented sailors who face an arduous training schedule through the spring ready for tough competition in the summer.

"We are producing a crop of young sailors who are performing well internationally. They are the young people who may be the Olympic sailors of the future."