PARALYMPIC sailors Alex Rickham and Niki Birrell are gearing up for their first big race of the season.

The four-time world champions, who claimed bronze at the London 2012 Games, said after watching their British Sailing team-mates achieve a seven-strong medal haul in Palma, they're looking forward to taking their turn for silverware.

Birrell, of Portland, said their Skud-18 class didn't compete at the latest World Cup event because not enough boats entered, so their first chance to race against their international rivals will be at next month's European Championships.

He said: “We’ve got the Europeans coming up in May in Switzerland.

“We had the National Ranker earlier this year but this will be the first real event back together since the Games.

“We’re looking forward to it, especially since the team did so well in Palma.”

Birrell, who has cerebral palsy, added: “It’s the nature of our class that there’s not always enough boats at every event. Obviously we want to be there getting medals for the team if we can.

“Alex is currently out in Miami doing some 2.4 keelboat stuff and I’m at Parkstone Yacht Club doing some able-bodied sailing with the club.

“The Skud Europeans will be the first big event on our Road to Rio and we’ve been getting ready to go.”