WEAVERHAM sailor Rob Partridge has been picked to represent Great Britain in the 29er Class at the ISAF World Youth Champion-ships in Canada in July.

Partridge and new partner James Ellis, from Plymouth, won the men's title at the National Youth Championships at Hayling Island for the second year running.

In 2006 he triumphed in the same class with Dylan Fletcher.

The championships acted as trials for the world event, ranked by ISAF as second only to the Olympic Games themselves.

They won the UK title after a week racing in principally light winds ranging from six to 12 knots, which favoured the girls' crews, who finished first and second.

Partridge and Ellis, bronze medallists overall, beat 49 other all-male manned boats.

Light winds are demanding, but Partridge, an 18-year-old Sir John Deane's student, and Ellis grabbed the initiative and with a win and a second on the first day were overnight leaders.

However, disaster struck the following day when the boys clipped the back end of another boat, cracking their own bowsprit and attracting penalty points.

They recovered to win the next race and bounce back up to second overall, qualifying for the 25-boat gold fleet to chase the major honours.

Their championships were full of ups and downs thereafter with some excellent results and some more modest as conditions made consistency virtually impossible.

They were also disqualified after winning one race when their boat's kite allegedly touched another boat as they rounded the windward mark.

They posted a 7, 2, 2 and 8 the next day to reach what would prove their final position, as the final day's racing was abandoned after a fruitless search for a sea breeze.

Partridge aims for a gold medal in Canada to add to the outright male youth victory and overall 11th place he won with Ellis at the 29ers World Championships in Argentina in January.

He was World Youth silver medallist last year.

He burst on to the sailing scene when he won the national junior and senior Topper championships and was placed sixth in the world at the age of 15 and immediately earmarked for his Olympics potential by the RYA.

Partridge is sponsored locally by Roger and Helen Minshall along with sailing backers Pinnell and Bax, Holt and Tack-Tick.