Fynn Sterritt counting down to Rio 2016

Fynn Sterritt joined the RYA Scotland 29er Class Academy in Largs at the weekend © Marc Turner / www.pfmpictures.co.uk

For many of us the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games memories are still relatively fresh in the mind and Rio 2016 certainly seem like a long way in the distant future at the moment. For GB Podium Potential Programme sailor Fynn Sterritt, this couldn't be further from the truth. When asked what the biggest challenge he and his sailing partner, Nic Asher, face in their campaign for Rio 2016, there wasn't a pause for thought - time!

Fynn started sailing at the age of about 6 at his local sailing club at Loch Morlich, inspired by his mum who is also a sailor. After coming up through the Scottish performance pathway programmes as a youngster sailing in the 420 class before moving up to the 470 class, Fynn is now sailing in the 49er class. It is a class often described as the Formula 1 of Olympic sailing due to the extremely large sail area compared with the size of the boat and therefore its ability to sail faster than the speed of wind. Fynn and his partner Nic have just finished their first season in the 49er class and are determined to be the ones representing GB for the class in Rio.

Fynn, who based down in Weymouth now with the GB programme, joined RYA Scotland at their 29er class Academy Camp in Largs at the weekend (30 November – 1 December 2013) to help give back to his sport in Scotland and to catch up with what the youngsters were getting up to as part of the RYA Scotland Performance Programme. In between helping to coach the training sessions on the water Fynn took some time to talk about his campaign for Rio and how he got to where he is today.

"My mum was always the one who inspired me to go sailing. It was her that always pushed me and she pushed me into all sports. I think both my parents were keen to make sure that I did as much sport as I could. She did a bit of sailing herself and there was a good group of us sailing up at Loch Morlich which made it good fun. In terms of who inspires me now, as a youth I always looked up to Joe Glanfield. He is two time Olympic silver medallist in the 470 class and he is actually now campaigning with Luke Patience (Scottish Olympic 2012 silver medallist in 470 class). I think him coming back inspires me even more because you can see a sailing career is prolonged. He is a highly successful sailor and he takes what he does very seriously" said Fynn.

As with many sports, having the support of your family is paramount in sailing. With much of the training at GB level taking place down on the south coast of England in Weymouth, there are many hours and even more expense spent on travelling up and down the country to regattas and training camps.

"My family have always been very supportive so I am very lucky in that sense. To get where I have got to today has been mainly down to my folks who have been driving up and down the country spending all their weekends away from home. It has paid off now but it was certainly hard for them at the time. It is hard to fund your sailing campaign so a lot of athletes still look to their family for support. I am lucky enough to have parents who still support me and I couldn't have done it without them but I am sure everyone is the same".

Standing in Largs on the last day of November chatting to Fynn outside was a strong reminder of just how cold it is training for sailing in winter but even the freezing conditions are not enough to make Fynn take his eye off his ultimate goal for even for a day.

"We are currently part of the Podium Potential Programme and hopefully over the next year we can move up to the Podium Programme. There is a lot of competition within the British squad at the moment and the guys we train with so we aim to get up to their level and hopefully surpass them. In terms of a big motivator, they are always there and we want to beat them in every race. Getting out of bed in the morning is not really an issue when everyone else is getting out of bed and you don't want to feel like you are falling behind. We are running out of time in terms of 2016, the clock is ticking so you just have to make the most of the time that you have got".

"I actually stopped sailing for a while when I went to university and I was out of the sport for 3-4 years. I thought at that stage that I wouldn't be able to get back into it. I thought about it quite a lot and it worried me a bit whilst I was at university because I knew that I wasn't doing enough. I got quite lucky after London 2012. I saw that everyone had done amazingly well and I knew Luke Patience beforehand and Hannah Mills and seeing how well they did inspire me to get back into it".

So with their first season in the boat together completed thoughts are firmly set on the season ahead and what they need to achieve to stay on track for that highly sought after place on the GB Olympic Team in Rio.

"We are looking for a medal at one of the world cup events at least. We are looking to really make some progress and I think we can get a top ten at the world championships and the European championships. There is a lot to look forward to and a lot of work to be done but it should be a good winter of training".

Finally RYA Scotland asked Fynn what he thought of the kind of training and coaching the class academy sailors were getting through the RYA Scotland programme. The 29er class is the development class for the Olympic 49er class so some of the young sailors he was coaching during the camp will no doubt be aiming to get to where Fynn is today and even higher.

"It was really good to see such a big fleet especially in the 29ers. There was a heap of them out there today which I think is great because the more boats you have the better the competition is going to be. There was also a wide range of abilities, we have some GB guys here today, which is also good because it means you have the good guys to bring up the level of the rest which is fantastic".

To finish up, advice that he would give to the young sailors aiming to make the GB team in the future?

"You make your own luck at the end of the day and I think if you work hard then things will happen for you. People often think that things are just going to come to them, and sometimes they might get lucky, but if you put in that little bit of extra effort then you will certainly go a long way".

RYA Scotland would like to thank Fynn for taking time out of his busy schedule to help at the 29er Class Academy Camp. For more information about Fynn, his partner Nic and their Rio 2016 campaign please go to www.teamashersterritt.co.uk.

For more information about RYA Scotland, the performance pathways in Scotland and the Class Academy programme please visit www.ryascotland.org.uk. You can also follow RYA Scotland on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates and information.