AN ESSEX sailor is preparing to start her 2011 campaign to represent Great Britain at the Olympics, writes Frazer Clark.

Katrina Hughes – who relocated to Portland from Leigh to be near the 2012 venue in Weymouth – is about to contest the prestigious Miami Olympic Classes Regatta in Florida which takes place at the end of this month.

Katrina and her helmsman Penny Clark will race in the single trapeze 470 class dinghy.

Their British rivals at Miami will include fellow Olympic hopefuls Sarah Ayton and Saskia Clark, and Hannah Mills and Katie Archer.

Hughes and her partner have endured several setbacks on their way to this stage in the race.

The 21-year-old south Essex woman has made a recovery from a back injury while Beijing Olympian Clark – who joined forces with Hughes in the 470 nearly three years ago – has overcome kidney problems.

Hughes – a former pupil of the Westcliff High School for Girls – is hell-bent on making the grade on yachting’s biggest stage.

With only one British 470 dinghy slot for the London Games, Hughes and Clark face competition from as a many as six other British pairs before selectors from the Royal Yachting Association make their final decision, probably in the autumn.

The pairing have, in the past, broken into the world’s top ten in the international class rankings – but now they are placed at number 14. It’s a ranking that they will be hoping to boost at when the Rolex Miami regatta runs from January 23 to 29 in the waters off Biscayne Bay. As one off the world’s top international regattas this is a start off point for would be Olympic sailors and the event is expected to attract upwards of 300 sailors from 25 countries.

As the second stop on the 2010-2011 International Sailing Federation Sailing World Cup circuit, this winter highlight promises elite, international competition in all the classes selected for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Hughes’ career highlights to date include a fifth overall at last year’s Perth International regatta, sixth place at last year’s influential Skandia Sail For Gold meeting and an eighth at the world championships.

The world’s top 470 crews include France’s Ingrid Petitjean and Nadège Douroux, and Emmanuelle Rol and Hélène Defrance and Italy’s Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol are expected on the start line in Miami. Danish, Spanish, Dutch, Israeli, US and Japanese sailors will also be on the start line.

l The Miami regatta will also feature 49er class racing where Paul Brotherton and Thorpe Bay YC’s Mark Asquith now know they will face extra competition from the British pairings of Dave Evans and Edward Powys, and John Pink and Rich Peacock.