YOUNG Kent yachtsman Sophie Ainsworth has been handed a major boost in realising her Olympic dreams after being invited to join the RYA’s Olympic Development programme.

Ainsworth, from Wye, who alongside Lymington-based helm Sophie Weguelin won 29er class silver at the ISAF Youth World Championships in Kingston, Canada, this summer, head the new Skandia Team GBR recruits stepping up from the Youth set-up into the elite Olympic Classes arena.

The 18-year-olds, both studying Exercise and Sports Science at Exeter University, launched their 470 two-person dinghy Olympic Classes career at the high-profile Skandia Sail For Gold regatta at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in September, finishing 10th in a world class fleet.