RYAN Casey, Jordan Davis and Aaron Combden will be hoping that fishing on their home waters gives them the edge during the FIPS-M World Boat Championships later this month.

The Weymouth trio, along with Michael Webber and George Fox, are all part of the England team going for gold in the under-21 competition – it is the first time England have entered a team in this event.

Weymouth Angling Society member Casey, from Radipole, goes into the championships on the back of some very impressive performances.

Representing his country at the Home Nations Shore Championships in Scotland, Casey won gold with his team-mates and finished second individually.

And Casey, a crewman on charter boat Supernova, is excited about the prospect of taking on the world’s best in familiar surroundings.

“Fingers crossed we can do well,” he said. “We should do okay on home waters and hopefully it will be a great experience.

“Our team has only been together for about two months and we haven’t really fished with each other very much.

“It will be good to see how we can do against teams like Italy and France who should be near the top.

“It’s going to be the biggest championships I’ve taken part in, and there is going to be a bit of pressure on us as well.”

His performance at the Home Nations championships has given Casey a big confidence boost ahead of the Worlds, which run from September 27 to October 4.

And on his own form, he added: “I haven’t been doing too bad lately and did really well up in Scotland.

“Hopefully I can keep that going on my home waters.”