A COLLEGE student sailor from Baxenden has been selected to represent Great Britain in one of its Blue Riband world youth championship events in New Zealand.
Jak Cornthwaite, 16, is a member of the national Laser Radial Youth Sailing Squad and has been named as one of six under-19 sailors who will make up the GB team to go to the World Youth Laser Radial Sailing Championships at Takapuna next March.
The Laser Radial is the Olympic class single handed sailing dinghy for ladies, and the male youths as they get bigger progress to the Laser full rig - the dinghy class in which Ben Ainslie won his first Olympic gold medal.
Jak, of Whooley Lane Farm, started sailing some four years ago at East Lancs Sailing Club at Rishton and is now a member of Elton Sailing Club at Bury.
The St Mary's College student now sails at events all over the country, including the National Sailing Academy at Weymouth which is to be host the 2012 Olympic sailing competitions.
He first took up the sport through his grandfather David, along with younger brother Tom, 12, who is showing signs of following in his wake having reached the West Zone squad.
Jak, who is targeting a place in the top 30, said: “I’m really excited to start having the chance to go out and represent my country. We’re the best country in the world at sailing. I definitely want to go right to the top and my dream would be to go to the Olympics in 2012 or 2016.”
