SALISBURY sailor Emily Wright revelled in her Allianz Sailing World Championships experience after a hugely encouraging competition in The Hague.

Wright, who turned 21 during the competition on the Dutch coast, and partner Adam Billany finished in 11th place in the RS venture connect class, in the first Championships that has integrated para events into the programme.

Though there was some minor frustration about missing out on a top-ten finish by the narrowest of margins, Wright was still pleased with how she and Billany performed as a fairly new partnership in the boat.

She said: “It was really amazing to go. I didn’t really know what to expect, we were a new pairing and hadn’t done much fleet racing in that boat - we’d trained a lot, but not in a fleet of those boats.

“To go out there and meet a whole load of old faces from the para world, and a whole load of new ones, get out there in a really competitive fleet was just amazing in itself.

“We managed to perform pretty well, we had good days and bad days as there always is with sailings, but we’re pretty pleased as a new pairing to finish 11th overall. It was brilliant.

“We were around somewhere from 8-12th across a lot of the week. It obviously would have been quite nice to end up in the top ten, in the end I think there was one point between us in 11th and the pair in eighth.

“It was a really close fleet but as a new pairing, 11th in the world is a good result. We didn’t have any particular need to be in the top ten for qualification for anything, it was definitely a learning experience. “Our start line needed a lot of work at the start of the week and we had them nailed by the end of the week. Hopefully we can carry on the stuff we’ve learnt and take on whatever the next challenge may be.”

Having to navigate a new partnership has not been without its complications for Wright, who is visually impaired.

And though she knows more than anyone that while she and Billany still have plenty to work on, there were huge signs of a growing relationship between the two when competing.

“With me being registered blind, one of the most important things is the communication on the boat,” added Wright.

“For us sorting out the roles on the boat and having that really clear communication and processes, both rigging and setting up the boat - but especially when we’re out there - we’ve really come into our own.

“In training it was really a work in progress, but we went out there and really showed all that work was paying off. It really gave us an advantage over some other teams.

“We always knew what the other person was doing.”

Follow the British Sailing Team after the Sailing World Championships in The Hague, Netherlands, on Instagram at @britishsailing