The island’s top dinghy sailors are ready for their first chance in four years to represent the Isle of Man at the Island Games.

The sailing competition for next month’s NatWest International Island Games in Gibraltar will be contested by Donald Edwards, Phil Hardisty, Simon Pressly and Matt Perry in the Olympic class Laser dinghy.

Edwards and Hardisty will compete in the standard sail class, Pressley and Perry in the smaller-rigged radial fleet.

Hardisty, Edwards and Pressly are all veterans of previous Island Games, and their names collectively appear on virtually every Manx sailing trophy in dinghies and keelboats.

Joining the team is 17-year-old Island Games rookie Matt Perry, a graduate of the Manx Youth Sailing Squad programme who has raced National, European and World Championships in the Tera, Feva and 29er dinghy classes.

Perry also won last year’s Isle of Man Youth Dinghy Championship in superb style.

Recent editions have been a frustrating experience for Manx sailors: the sport was not included in the 2017 Gotland games programme, while Hannah Howitt was the only Isle of Man sailor to compete in the far-flung 2013 games in Bermuda.

A full IoM team was fielded in Jersey in 2015 and the Isle of Wight in 2011, but both campaigns were hamstrung by frustratingly light and fickle winds.

Manx dinghy sailors tend to shine in the heavy winds, strong tides and big seas that they usually enjoy at home.

But with virtually no tides and generally light breezes, the enclosed Bay of Gibraltar may present an ominously similar challenge to the Jersey and the Isle of Wight competitions.

’The heavy wind stuff comes naturally to us all, so we’ve focused our training on the light airs conditions’, said team captain Donald Edwards. ’The team spent the winter racing on West Baldwin reservoir, which is about the best training we can get for light, shifty and unpredictable conditions.’

Their schedule takes in every day of the Gibraltar games, with a practice race ahead of the opening ceremony on Saturday, July 6, and the 10-race series beginning the morning after.

Two races a day are slated for each class, with a contingency to race on Friday, July 12, the day of the closing ceremony.

’It’s an outstanding team of sailors and a real mix of experience and young talent’, Edwards continued,

’We can’t control everything, but the squad has really put the hours into training and we can’t wait to get on the water.’

Edwards and Hardisty will compete in the standard sail class, Pressley and Perry in the smaller-rigged radial fleet.

Hardisty, Edwards and Pressly are all veterans of previous Island Games, and their names collectively appear on virtually every Manx sailing trophy in dinghies and keelboats.

Joining the team is 17-year-old Island Games rookie Matt Perry, a graduate of the Manx Youth Sailing Squad programme who has raced National, European and World Championships in the Tera, Feva and 29er dinghy classes.

Perry also won last year’s Isle of Man Youth Dinghy Championship in superb style.

Recent editions have been a frustrating experience for Manx sailors: the sport was not included in the 2017 Gotland games programme, while Hannah Howitt was the only Isle of Man sailor to compete in the far-flung 2013 games in Bermuda.

A full IoM team was fielded in Jersey in 2015 and the Isle of Wight in 2011, but both campaigns were hamstrung by frustratingly light and fickle winds.

Manx dinghy sailors tend to shine in the heavy winds, strong tides and big seas that they usually enjoy at home.

But with virtually no tides and generally light breezes, the enclosed Bay of Gibraltar may present an ominously similar challenge to the Jersey and the Isle of Wight competitions.

’The heavy wind stuff comes naturally to us all, so we’ve focused our training on the light airs conditions’, said team captain Donald Edwards. ’The team spent the winter racing on West Baldwin reservoir, which is about the best training we can get for light, shifty and unpredictable conditions.’

Their schedule takes in every day of the Gibraltar games, with a practice race ahead of the opening ceremony on Saturday, July 6, and the 10-race series beginning the morning after.

Two races a day are slated for each class, with a contingency to race on Friday, July 12, the day of the closing ceremony.

’It’s an outstanding team of sailors and a real mix of experience and young talent’, Edwards continued,

’We can’t control everything, but the squad has really put the hours into training and we can’t wait to get on the water.’