OLYMPIC sailor Alison Young is set to embark on her ‘second most important regatta of the year’ as she prepares to race at the Laser Radial World Championships in Vallarta, Mexico, this week.

Portland-based Young is using the seven-day regatta to fine-tune her preparations towards Rio 2016 and what will be her second Olympic Games outing in the one-person dinghy event, having finished fifth at London.

Young, currently ranked fifth in the world, will be among 72 sailors from 32 nations set to contest the World Championships event, which she sees as a key stepping stone towards Rio success.

“It’s the second most important regatta of the year, but we’re using it to refine a few processes,” the 28-year-old explained.

“The pressure’s going to be on in the fleet so we’ll be able to see how some of the processes we’ve been working on stand up, and where we need to make adjustments in the next few months.”

Among Young’s key rivals for the World Championship crown will be the Netherlands’ world number one and European Champion Marit Bouwmeester, defending title-holder Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark and China’s Olympic gold medallist Lijia Xu.

“Frustratingly I’ve been missing the medals at the last few regattas with a few fourths and fifths, so we’ve just got to keep chipping away,” said Young, who is racing for the first time at the regatta venue which will also host the Laser Standard Worlds next month.