Skandia Team GBR Paralympic sailor to inspire youth sailors at regatta

Niki Birrell, one of the sailors selected for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games and the Gold medal winner in the SKUD 18 class at the recent Qingdao Paralympic Test Event, will be visiting the National School Sailing Association National Youth Regatta at Carsington Water on Friday, July 25. 

Niki, (21), is making time in his busy Paralympic preparation schedule to visit the event in Derbyshire and lend his support to the youth sailors who will be competing in the week-long regatta.

He will arrive on the final day of the event and spend time watching the 250-plus sailors competing in the last of the scheduled races before presenting trophies to the top sailors at the event prize giving.

Regatta Event Director Ian Bell said: “We are delighted that Niki is able to come to the event and we know this will be a big deal for the young sailors. I am sure that they will draw inspiration from Niki and we are confident that he should see some top class sailing during his visit.”

Niki (pictured) has had an impressive racing sailing career to date sailing in Mirror, 420 and 470 class dinghies with his brother Christian and qualifying for the World level competitions in each of these classes. The transfer into the Skud 18 came in November 2007 when he teamed up with Alexandra Rickham, his partner for the Beijing Paralympics.

Niki and Alexandra’s immediate form has been incredibly successful culminating in taking Gold at the Qingdao Olympic Test Event as well as achieving a podium finish in bronze place at the 2008 US Disabled Midwinters event held in St. Petersburg, Florida in January and a fifth place in the 2008 Rolex Miami Olympic Class Regatta in which are both key events for the US Olympic team selections.

Niki said: “The chance to come to Derbyshire to see the NSSA sailors going through their paces will be a pleasant break in our preparation schedule for Beijing. It isn’t that long ago for me that I could have been eligible to enter the Regatta, so I hope that this will bring inspiration to the sailors to know that putting the effort into their racing sailing, can bring with it huge opportunities. You never know, there could well be several future Olympic sailors among the fleet.”