Lymington's famous legacy in youth sailing was in good hands this week after outstanding performances from some of the region's leading youngsters.

Royal Lymington Yacht Club has produced some remarkable talent over the years and it was 16 year-olds Pippa Wilson and Jenny Marks who dominated the first two days of racing in the 31-boat 29er fleet in the Volvo RYA Youth Championships and Trials at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy.

Wilson, who has recently made the transition from the cadet class to the 29er, and crew Marks sailed well in the tricky conditions to take two bullets, a fifth and a second place.

"We are aiming on finishing top girls this week, and representing GB at the Volvo ISAF World Championships in Canada," the girls commented. "The competition is of a high standard and was a hard fleet to enter into as we have only been sailing together for three months, but we are focusing towards putting in a consistent performance over the week."

Another Lymington duo, Tom Smedley and Johnny Marshall, were lying fourth in the 29er class though the third day's racing had to be cancelled due to light airs.

In the Laser Standard fleet, Luke Cross, 18, was in third place, though it was Stokes Bay's Charlie Baillie-Strong who took two firsts and a fifth in the opening rounds to finish equal first.

And talented youngster Nick Thompson, also from Lymington, was leading the 117-strong Laser Radial class with Dominic Hutton, 18, third.

Former Olympian and GBR Challenge helmsman Andy Beadsworth, admitted he was impressed after watching the initial rounds of Laser racing.

"The event has got so much bigger since my day, and it is great to see so many young sailors competing at such a high standard," he said.

"The sailing competition and tactics at the front of the fleets were extremely impressive, but also the standard at the back of the fleet showed that these sailors have loads of potential.

"Hopefully, some of the sailors that have been competing this week, will be defending the America's Cup in years to come."

Ben Mansfield and Ben Hicks, representing the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble, led the Hobie 16 class from Ben Cutler-Sharp and Rupert Stock by only one point after scoring two first places and a fourth.