THE British Sonar sailing team believe that World Championship glory last December can act as a springboard to Rio 2016 podium glory as they get their Paralympic regatta underway on Monday.

John Robertson, Hannah Stodel, and Steve Thomas, who all train at the Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy, head to their fourth Games together, focused on landing their first Paralympic silverware and bidding to lay to rest the ghosts of London 2012 where an off-the-water penalty denied them a bronze medal.

The trio previously won back-to-back World titles in 2005 and 2006, and, 10 years after landing their first crown, they returned to the top of the Worlds podium at the 2015 Para World Sailing Championships in Melbourne last winter, before following that up with silver at the 2016 event in Medemblik, the Netherlands, in May.

Stodel, 31, revealed that even though sailing is not currently part of the Paralympic programme for Tokyo 2020, it would have been unlikely that she and her teammates would have campaigned for a fifth Games anyway, meaning Rio is set to be their competitive Sonar swansong after 14 years together as a team.

Now they head to Rio full of confidence they can finally achieve their career dream.

Robertson, 44, said: “Winning the Worlds last year was awesome, it was our focus for the year. We had worked to get everything right, focusing on psychology and getting the boat fast enough. The racing wasn’t easy, these things aren’t easy otherwise everyone would do it, but we were digging deep all week and at the end we won by a point. We fought all the time, we were fighting for every place.”

“We had a tough year going into the Worlds,” Thomas, 39, continues. “We came out on top in a few areas we had been working on and showed good mental toughness we had been slightly lacking if we’re honest. That will stand us in good stead in Rio. If we deliver on our ability there is a good chance we will be on the podium.”

Stodel concurs: “If we get on to the Rio podium I’ll probably be like ‘oh, thank god. It’s finally happened!’ We’ve been working for four Games to try to come away with a medal. We’ve got to walk away with a medal, it’s everything we’ve worked for. We’ve proved we can do it time and time again at Worlds, we can definitely do it.”

Rio lived up to its reputation as one of the hardest places in the world to sail during last month’s Olympic Games, and with the breeze affected by the mountains and cityscape around Rio combined with tricky tide and current, the Paralympic sailors are also going to have to prove their adaptability in all conditions to taste success.

But with the British Team Sailors having spent between 60-80 days in Rio during this Paralympic cycle, the Sonar team can’t wait to show it was time well spent while reveling in the unique atmosphere of the Brazilian Games.

Stodel said: “It’s Rio, crazy things are going to happen and being in a good place to handle that is going to be key. We’ve done everything we can, now it’s about keeping our heads together, having a good series and rolling with the punches. Even when stuff’s going wrong, as a team we know how to handle it and we will.”

Thomas added: “The people in Rio are so amazing. You see people out on the water or just running and being active outdoors in the evenings.

“There aren’t many places in the UK you would see the streets and the beaches lined with people being active at that time. That tells me they love sport and people will embrace the Games.”

The Sonar class is scheduled to contest an 11-race series, with two races per day from Monday to Friday, September 12-16 before the final series race, after which the medals will be awarded, on Saturday, September 17.