Mills 2nd at Princesa Sofia Trophy Olympic Regatta

Hannah Mills, one of Britain’s most promising young Olympic sailors, this week finished second Briton at the 38th Princesa Sofia Trophy Olympic Regatta.

Sailing with crew Katrina Hughes in the women’s 470 class in Palma, Majorca, Hannah has proved her formidable talent in this class, which places her as a real contender for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The annual Princesa Sofia Trophy Olympic Regatta, which began last Friday, was raced in 8 to 15 knots in the warm waters of the Bay of Palma. After five excellent races Hannah and Katrina made the cut for the gold fleet, in which they competed in two further races to complete the regatta.

Sailing against 67 other entries from 30 different countries, the top athletes from each sailing nation were battling it out on the water at this internationally renowned event.

Hannah Mills commented: “The racing here in Palma this week has been fantastic. Katrina and I are really pleased with our performance at the Princesa Sofia Trophy, one of the events on the circuit that all the current Olympic sailors compete on. Our aim for the event was to make the gold fleet, so once we had achieved that we were ecstatic. Sailing in the gold fleet was really tough but great racing – the standard is so high, all the boats are really close and every move and decision you make counts for a lot.”

Andrew Pindar commented: “This is a great result for Hannah and Katrina. Competition at Olympic level regattas tends to be especially fierce the year prior to each Olympic Games as many nations use events such as this as indicators for their Olympic selection. We at Pindar wish to congratulate the girls on their strong performance and wish them the best of luck for the coming season.”

Mills, 19, from Cardiff, Wales, has only been sailing the International 470 class for eight months, while also studying at Bristol University. Hannah has enjoyed an illustrious sailing career to date, having first taken the world of sailing by storm in the junior Optimist class. After winning the National Optimist Championships in 2002, a first for any girl, Hannah took fifth place at the 2003 Optimist world Championships, the best ever British result yet. Hannah then went on to achieve a number of international victories in the 420 youth class, well-known as a starting point for many of today’s Olympic stars.

Crowned 420 Ladies World and Junior European Champion in her final season, Hannah moved into the women’s double handed Olympic class at the end of 2006 and immediately won a place in the RYA Olympic Development Squad.

Hannah has also received numerous national sporting awards including BBC Wales Young Female Sports Personality of the Year and UK Young Sailor of the Year in 2002.

For more information regarding Hannah Mills, please visit www.hannahmills.com

For more information regarding the Princesa Sofia Trophy, please visit www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/dinghy/index.html