Captain of the Royal Southern Yacht Club’s Team racing trio for the RYS Bicentenary International Regatta, Ben Mansfield, will have a secret weapon in his arsenal, in the form of young world champion sailor Annabel Vose, a university student who is current University Match Racing Worlds women’s world championship, and current University World Yachting champion. In 2012 she was 420 class world champion, and in 2013 420 class European champion. She is also the first female ever to become British Youth Match Racing national champion as well as ranking ISAF matching racing current world no 13.

Ben himself is no stranger to sailing successes, he was National Youth Champion in catamarans in 2002 and 2003 and then a member of the RYA Development Squad.

Ben and Annabel are amongst the young crews, all under the age of 30, that make up the team racing teams for the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Bicentenary International Regatta who are getting ready to race on Monday. As well as the Royal Southern’s team, based at a club just a few miles across the water from Cowes, plenty of other very accomplished young sailors will be joining the competition which will be sailed in J70s. The race course area is expected to be to the east of Cowes in the area of Osborne Bay, and there will be starts each day from 1000 onwards.