Minster’s Toby Orpin is gunning for success at home and abroad in 2009 as he continues his pursuit of an Olympic place.

The 21-year-old tasted success in the prestigious Forts Race and the Grafham Catamaran Open this autumn and he’s looking forward to more glory in the new year.

He said: “The Olympics is something you have to think about a long time before, maybe four to six years and you have to plan ahead.

“This year we want to do as well as possible and winning the nationals would be fantastic and that’s our big aim.

“We came fifth last year but it was really windy and our boat suffers in the wind as it is so light.

“We won the Forts Race and that was a good result for us and we’re going in the right direction.”

Orpin takes the helm of an F-18 catamaran alongside his crew Lewis Crawford and the pair are already among the best in the country.

The current F-18 rankings put Orpin second for helm while Cornish-based Crawford is top of the pile.

Full story in this week’s Sheerness Times Guardian newspaper.