'˜The next Ben Ainslie' among young sailors honoured at Dell Quay

Francesca Sprules and Laura Palmer picked up awards for the most improved juniors of 2011 and Thomas Bettle, ten, won junior sailor of the year.

Francesca and Laura have joined the DQSC junior race squad this year, racing through the summer in all weather conditions, improving their skills and participating in the West Sussex schools regatta at Chichester YC in a Feva.

Thomas has already been racing at Dell Quay for two years, taking part in the BIC squad, the WSSRA and most recently the Topper Open at CYC, where he raced for nearly five hours against senior Topper Squad racers.

Thomas is being tipped to be the next Ben Ainslie and is already one of the most talented junior racers at Dell Quay.