KIERAN Andrews, 14, who sails at St Mawes Sailing Club, has been successful in his application for his very own Laser dinghy.

For the second year running, 13 aspiring young sailors throughout the country have been awarded their very own boats and windsurfers, donated by the John Merricks Sailing Trust (JMST), the official charity partner of the RYA OnBoard programme.

Kieran was one of those selected from over 70 applications after competing in the RYA SW Zone Championships which took place this September.

He said: "I would like to become a sailing instructor in two years' time, or be making my way towards being an Olympic sailor. I would like to be sitting watching the 2016 Olympics as part of the British Sailing Team."

RYA OnBoard Operations Officer, Cat Ferguson, said: "This is the second year we've teamed up with the JMST to run this scheme which is aimed at helping ambitious young sailors to progress in the sport. These youngsters have all shown huge enthusiasm, talent and commitment to the sport despite some of them being fairly new to sailing. This year we will award six Toppers, three Optimists, three Bic Technos and one Laser."

The boats and boards that the JMST have donated will provide these sailors, who may not have ordinarily had the opportunity, to progress their skills with the highest quality equipment to continue to participate in sailing.

Run by the RYA, OnBoard is a grass roots programme which introduces sailing and windsurfing to young people aged 8 to 18, through schools, youth groups and training centres.

For more information about how to get involved in sailing visit the RYA's website www.rya.org.uk or the OnBoard website www.ruob.co.uk