Sport

Sailors Try Out For New Invictus Sport Ahead Of Sydney Games

Training camps, trials and selection weekends are well underway for this year's Invictus Games in Sydney.

Every year the organisers add a sport to the programme and not surprisingly, a water sport has been chosen for Australia.

Sailors Try Out For New Invictus Sport Ahead Of Sydney

The seaside town in Dorset was the home of sailing for the London Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.

It offers world-class facilities, has some of the best waters around and is set in the heart of the Jurassic Coast.

For many, like Duncan Moyse, being out on the water is the ultimate escape - but sailing also requires a lot of teamwork. He told Forces Network:

"It's a way of just getting away from everything. No mobile phones, no nothing."

The journey starts on land, where 70 hopefuls take part in trials at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, which have been run over two days.

Sailors Try Out For New Invictus Sport Ahead Of Sydney

The boat classes being used in Sydney are the Hansa 303 and the Elliot7, although the Elliot6 is used at the trials for training.

Just five Team UK sailors will be confirmed in May.

Sailors Try Out For New Invictus Sport Ahead Of Sydney

451 hopefuls - more than ever before - applied to be a part of the UK team this year, a 47% increase on the number who applied for Toronto 2017. 

They'll compete across 11 sports in the fourth edition of the Invictus Games, in conditions many degrees warmer than this UK day at the end of March.

That's just one of the challenges they'll face, should they win a coveted place on the plane Down Under.

More: F-35 Pilots Get Ready To Land On HMS Queen Elizabeth

Related topics

Join Our Newsletter

WatchUsOn

Hot shot soldiers tested🎯

Training UK's military Air Traffic Controllers✈️

Exercise Cobra Warrior takes off✈️