Annandale teenager Rebecca Coles is part of the only British sailing team competing in an American preview of a brand new Olympic event, due to feature at the Paris 2024 games for the first time.
She will represent the British Keelboat Academy in the ground breaking race at Newport, Rhode Island in May, previewing the new long distance offshore Olympic sailing event.
Along with her fellow British Keelboat Academy team mate Patrick Hutchings from Plymouth, Rebecca, 18, will race a specially adapted 24-foot racing yacht non stop for 24 hours over a long course out at sea.
World Sailing agreed to introduce the mixed two-person keelboat offshore event to the Olympics at its Annual General Meeting last year.
Rebecca, from Lochmaben, a former pupil of St Joseph’s College, Dumfries, is currently living in Cowes on the Isle of Wight where she is working towards her Yachtmaster offshore sailing qualification and training with the British Keelboat Academy.
She races and trains in various racing yachts on the Solent and, last year, was second in the British Women’s Match Racing Championships in Weymouth.
Rebecca began sailing as an eight-year-old with Annandale Sailing Club on Lochmaben’s Castle Loch. She said: “This is a huge break for me in my sailing career. I’ve dreamed of offshore sailing for years and to have opportunities like this, as a result of the new event in the Olympics, is amazing.
“This event is the first of its kind to be held so I feel really lucky to be one of the select few to be previewing it.”
Rebecca and Patrick will travel to Rhode Island for a nine-day training camp with sailors from around the world ahead of the race on May 15/16.
“The Olympic offshore event will incorporate new skills, introducing a kind of mental and physical endurance that Olympic sailing hasn’t seen before,” Rebecca explained.
“Offshore sailing is exhausting and throwing in the element of competition creates a very high-pressure situation.”
British Keelboat Academy coach Niall Myant-Best said: “For two of our sailors to have been awarded places on the first mixed double-handed offshore Olympic trial is a testament to their hard work.
“Once this event is over, they will be in an incredibly small group of sailors who have experienced what this Olympic format demands of them. A great start to a new adventure.”
Rebecca is supported in her latest venture by Dumfriesshire-based care providers Common Thread. Their CEO Julie Joseph OBE said: “We are delighted to support Rebecca with sponsorship. Sport, and in particular sailing, is an effective way of encouraging young people to engage with others, either competitively or in a recreational way.
“Rebecca has been highly successful and is an excellent role model for others to follow.”
Recently Rebecca was part of a crew delivering a yacht 1,250 nautical miles from the south coast of England to the Costa Del Sol in Spain: “It was an amazing trip, with dolphins, sunsets, and open sea. It really confirmed my love of offshore sailing.”
After a few years building more offshore and ocean sailing experience, Rebecca aims to compete in the Mini Transat solo, unassisted trans-Atlantic race, an event which kickstarted the career of some of her heroes including Ellen MacArthur and Sam Davies.
“Competing in high profile offshore events like this Olympic preview will help prepare me for the Transat goal, and, of course, this new Olympic event for Paris 2024 is definitely on my radar.”
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