A TALENTED Weymouth sailor has a busy season ahead with national and international championships to look forward to.

Alex McFarlane, 14, is a member of Castle Cove Sailing Club and currently competes in the Topper dinghy.

This season he plans to compete at every Topper national event.

He said: “I am looking forward to the National Championships, which will be held at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA).

“In July, I will also compete in the Topper World Champion-ships at Lake Garda in Italy. I would like to rank top 25 in the gold fleet in the national and the world Championships.”

McFarlane is a member of the Topper National Intermediate squad and in preparation for these major events, has been attending squad camps at Graf-ham Water, Staunton Harold and Rutland.

His next squad camp will be at Phwelli, North Wales.

McFarlane has been sailing Toppers for the past five years but due to his age and size, he will be gradually moving up the pathway and transitioning into his next class.

He said: “I have just bought a Laser Radial which I need to get used to before the Youth Nation-als at Easter. This will be my first event in the new boat.”

His older brother Ross, with Sam Barker, won the Spitfire class at the Youth Nationals last year so Alex has something to aim at.

The youngster whose favourite sailing conditions are strong winds and big waves was last week disappointed that his training event at Poole was cancelled due to the wind being too strong.

His next event will be the Topper Winter Regatta, which is also counting as National Series two. The event will be held at WPNSA this weekend.

He added: “I will race against nearly 150 other boats and the conditions are looking great. This counts as a National Series event on my home waters so I hope to finish in the top 10.”