LEIGH’S Katrina Hughes, who had her Olympic sailing dreams shattered when she missed out on selection for the 2012 Games, is out to prove the British selectors wrong at the sailing world championships in Australia.

The former Westcliff High School for Girls pupil was heartbroken when she and Penny Clark were not chosen to represent Great Britain in the Womens 470 class at the London Olympics.

The sport’s national authority, the Royal Yachting Association, chose fellow Essex sailor, Saskia Clark, 32, from West Mersea and her helmsmen Hannah Mills following a tough race series at the 2012 venue in Weymouth at the end of the summer..

But now the international sailing authority’s world championship gives Hughes the chance to show what she and her helmswoman are capable of – and stake their claim as unofficial reserve should anything untoward happen to either of the chosen pair.

Injuries in sailing are not uncommon in the trapeze classes where sailors are attached to the boat by a 2.5mm thick wire and are at danger of serious injury should the speeding dinghy capsize dramatically in big winds.

Sailors can be thrown around the front of the craft or slammed into the mast.

Back injury has been known to knock would-be Olympians out for months on end.

A strorming international performance in Perth would put pressure on the British selectors to reconsider their decision.

The first racing for the womens 470s starts in just in just fve days time and the major regatta has attracted sailors from 79 nations.

Olympic front runners Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata from Japan and world number one crew Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Farrar-Kinsolving from the USA will provide stiff competition for the Britons. And Aussie duo Belinda Stowell and Elise Rechichi will be another pair certain to be at the sharp end of the fleet.

Organised by the sport’s international authority, the International Sailing Federation, the Perth regatta will be sailed in very different conditions to the London Olympic venue off Britain’s south coast.

Large waves and strong winds are likely to be in marked contrast to Weymouth in the midsummer which is likely to be held in generally light winds.

But for Olympians and would-be Olympians this will be a chance to tweak their dinghy for extra speed, brush up on their tactical expertise and try to steal a march on rivals.

However, gear failures and injury can also derail crews.

Racing for the Womens 470 class starts on Monday December 12 with two races.

Two races are held each day until Saturday with the exception of Thursday which is kept as a reserve day in case racing has to be abandoned.The medal ceremony is on Sunday December 18.