TWO Lymington sailors have been selected as part of the ten-strong youth team to represent Great Britain at the ISAF Youth World Championships in Poland this July.

Nick Thompson and Pippa Wilson started Sailing at the Salterns Sailing Club in Lymington before moving on to Cadets sailing from the Royal Lymington Yacht Club.

Thompson then moved to Optimists where he became the first GBR sailor to win the European Championships.

Transferring to the Laser he has had many National and International successes, including Youth European Champion and the YJA Young Sailor of the Year.

Last week he was selected to represent Great Britain after finishing fifth in the Olympic Selection Event. In the final two races Thompson beat Paul Goodison who had previously been chosen to go to the Athens Olympics!

Wilson stayed with Cadets and went on to win the National Championships in 2001. She then moved on to 29ers where she won the Youth Nationals and Open Europeans.

Wilson went on to win a gold medal at the ISAF Youth Worlds in 2002 and was selected after winning the 420 class National Youth Championships last week sailing with Harriette Trumble.

The Youth Sailing Programme run by the Royal Lymington Yacht Club has produced many top sailors over the years with Nick Rogers this year selected to represent Great Britain at the Olympics.

Wednesday Junior Sailing, the community sailing project run by the club on Wednesday afternoons, is open to all aged between eight and 18.

Several local sailors did well at the recent RYA Youth Nationals held in Cardigan Bay.

Simon Wheeler (Parkstone and Poole YCs) and Justin Visser (Royal Lymington) achieved third overall in the 29er class and were re-selected for the 29er National youth squad and also selected for an RYA grant to go to the World Championships.

The pair had arrived at the venue on the previous Wednesday and trained until the event started on Easter Monday. However, the first day was cancelled due to light winds.

At the end of the second day they were lying eighth after four races but with more wind on the third day their results were much more consistent and they leapt to third overall.

Day four started with 35-knot winds and racing was delayed until the afternoon when the wind did a 180 degree shift and dropped to 5-7knots.

"We were very frustrated that we did not get to go sailing in the stronger winds of the morning which is our fort," said Wheeler.

Despite this they scored well and pulled up further points on the second-placed boat.

Racing was cancelled due to no wind on the final day that was again frustrating for Wheeler and Visser as they had high hopes of claiming second place.

Local representatives to do well in the 420 Class were Lucy Macgregor and Nerissa Booth (Poole) who were eighth while Robbie Allam and Adam Richards (Parkstone YC) achieved 19th. Georgie Blaver-Mann (Parkstone) and Charlotte Lawrence (RLYC) were 38th with Parkstone clubmates Sam Pearson and Ewan Marshall hot on their heals in 39th position.

Milford on Sea's Stuart Jardine won the Spi Ouest-France Regatta in his J24 Stouche for the ninth time.

The huge, 500-boat, 21-division French regatta's only UK successes were in the J24 Fleet with Jardine first and Parkstone Yacht Club's David Ellis second.

After three days of close racing Stouche, Ellis in Hitch-Hiker and Penny Aubert's Julia were all equal on points going into Monday's last day and last race.

This was held in fantastic conditions with a good breeze and strong sunshine. The lead was taken early by Aubert closely followed by Hitch-Hiker with Stouche initially buried under the 70-boat start line.

However, after some solid working of the wind shifts up the first beat, Stouche managed to crawl back into contention and kept on clawing back places through the downwind leg to gain the lead half-way up the second beat.

The rest of the race was consolidation and sensible covering by Stouche enabled her to keep the lead and win the regatta with Hitch-Hiker second and Julia third.

Parkstone Yacht Club hosted round one of the Typhoon Fireball Super Series last weekend with 23 boats competing.

Racing on Saturday was in Poole Bay and with Force 3 rising to 5 winds there were a number of breakages and retirements.

The first two races were emphatically won by Angus Hemmings and Steve Chesney from Hayling Island SC.

In the first race Phil Popple and G Tillson from Shoreham were second with Paul Cullen and Jon Ching (Weirwood) third.

Race two saw local heroes Martin and David Cooney take second from Noel Butler and Francis Rowan (DMYC) in third.

Although the sun was shining, it was bitterly cold and the fleet called it a day leaving race three un-sailed.

On Sunday racing was in Poole Harbour and the wind gradually increased to Force 3 and this brought Shane McCarthy and Richard Wagstaff to the front to win race four from Hemmings and Chesney with Cullen and Ching in third.

In race five the Cooneys took an early lead and held it to the finish. Hemmings and Chesney were second and Butler and Rowan third.

Hemmings and Chesney's results allowed them to sit out the last race that saw Ian Braham and Chris Comner to take the lead only top be pipped at the finish by the Cooney brothers. Butler and Rowan again finished third.

Ancasta's New Boat Weekend at Cobb's Quay provides an opportunity for boat buyers to view a selection of current models from the Bnteau range of Ocanis cruising yachts, first cruiser racers, the full range of Bavaria motor boats and the powerful Lagoon 410 catamaran.

The event gets underway tomorrow and runs until Sunday, starting at 10am each day.

Owners will be on board their boats and will be happy to talk about their experiences.

With 800 stands displaying products from leading manufacturers and items from enthusiastic sailors, some real treasures can be found at Beaulieu Boatjumble which takes place this Sunday.

So if you need an anchor or aqualung, winch or windlass you are bound to find it at the popular annual event.

However, if you are a sailor looking for a new or used ship-shape vessel then visit Boatworld.

This rapidly expanding area attracts visitors interested in buying towable yachts, dinghies, motorboats and accessories, clothing and services.

To purchase tickets for Boatjumble and Boatworld please visit: www.beaulieu.co.uk/tickets or call 01590 612888.