WEST Kilbride sailing duo Daniel Smith and Rebecca Jeffery have their eyes set firmly on racing success thanks to sponsorship from Flamingo Yacht Charters for their RS200 dinghy campaign.

Helmsman Daniel, 36, is an extremely experienced sailor having recorded over 100,000 nautical miles in his logbook, including a circumnavigation.

He spent his youth in Optimists, then Lasers, with the Scottish Sailing Squad, before deciding to turn his hobby into a career. He became a highly successful watersports instructor for the SportScotland National Centre on Cumbrae, teaching sailing, windsurfing and powerboating.

Following this he was selected as one of only twelve skippers for the prestigious Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 2015-16.

Daniel led his non-professional team in a very competitive campaign, eventually finishing with an amazing result of second overall after the 11 month, 40,000NM race.

Now home in West Kilbride, Daniel is keen to go back to dinghy sailing and compete at a national and international level.

Vet Rebecca, 28, always feels at home crewing in the front of a double handed dinghy. Having been taught to sail by her father on Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, she was his number one crew until moving to Scotland a year ago. Rebecca has spent most of her sailing life in a GP14, a highly competitive double handed class, with several helms in Ireland and the UK at National and World level. Rebecca has also spent time on yachts off-shore racing, including a 2-legged race around North America.

Daniel said: “I’m really excited to be racing with Rebecca over the coming season with the support of Flamingo Yacht Charters. The West coast of Scotland is an amazing place to sail and it’s going to be great to spend loads of time out on the water training and also racing further afield.”

Operations & Business Development Manager at Flamingo Yacht Charters, Hazel Pearson, said: “We are looking forward to supporting Daniel and Rebecca in their racing campaign. They are both fantastic sailors and it’s amazing to have them flying the flag for Flamingo Yacht Charters as they make their bid for success in the highly competitive RS200 field. We wish them the best of luck.”