After only three months in the 470, Cardiff s Hannah Mills and Southampton s Rachel Larman have been recognised for their already promising performance and were presented with the Marlow Ropes Award at the 2007 Collins Stewart London Boat Show on Friday 5 January, by Offshore Challenges Sailing Team's Dame Ellen MacArthur. The award entitles the two sailors to free Marlow Rope for a year.
At only 18, Mills is no stranger to a challenge and recently stepping into the 470, one of the most technical of the Olympic class boats, has proven to be a challenge that she is happily embracing.
As the 2006 420 Ladies World Champion and the 2006 420 Junior Ladies European Champion, Mills is certainly capable of continuing her recent run of good form on the Olympic circuit.
Sailing with 24 year-old Rachel Larman, who has been competing on and off in the 470 since 1999, the pair has already been earmarked as hopefuls for London 2012 after putting in a strong performance at the Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta finishing second overall.
At first Mills was speechless when hearing that she had been named for the award. We were really shocked when we found out we d won it! Obviously we re very happy to have been selected for it! Once I made the move into the 470 I realised there was considerably more rope to pull compared to the 420, so this award will definitely be a great help!
Hannah reveals the hurdles that she and Rachel will face in the coming year and how those tests will play a strong part in their campaign for the Olympic Games. Our greatest challenge for 2007 will be trying to crack our boat handling and getting to know the ins and outs of the rig set up.
Obviously our biggest goal is to get to the Olympics, but for now we re focusing on getting our basic skills and understanding of the boat up to scratch; without those skills in place we can t even begin to think about competing for Great Britain at the Olympic Games.
Rachel is also quick to outline what their goals are for the 2007 sailing season. Learning the boat, creating great team work, competing at international events and gaining as much experience as possible are what we re trying to achieve this year. Tactically we re quite strong and Hannah and I are both very focused on the task in hand and determined to get it right.
Barrie Edgington, Olympic Development Squad Manager, can see future potential for Mills and Larman.
The Marlow Award recognises performances achieved by sailors starting out on the Olympic campaign trail. Hannah Mills and previous Olympic Development Squad Yngling campaigner Rachel Larman, immediately gained a place on Skandia Team GBR s Olympic Development Squad.
Following Hannah s previous performance at the 420 Worlds and the pair s determination at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, they have justly been awarded for one of the six annual Marlow Ropes sponsorship Awards. Whilst both Hannah and Rachel will be balancing academic commitments as they start out in the 470, they will be a pair to watch for 2012 and beyond.
Along with sponsoring up-and-coming sailors, Marlow Ropes is also the Official Supplier and Exclusive Team Ropes Partner to Skandia Team GBR and is a brand that has earned an outstanding reputation based on products tried and tested in the world s harshest environments. Marlow is committed to developing and delivering the ultimate range of rope products to suit all marine requirements.
Photo: Barry Wilson