ANNABEL Vose of the Hampshire Collegiate College at Embley Park has maintained her position among Britain's top young sailors despite having to overcome strong winds and choppy waters.

After braving the difficult conditions with impressive placings in the UK qualifiers for the European and world Optimist championships, she was the second-placed girl in the UK inland championships despite being one of the youngest taking part.

The event attracted high fleet of 224 Optimist craft to Grafham Water in Cambridgeshire and competitors had to control their tiny eight-foot craft at breathtaking speeds in the 30-knot winds.

Annabel, 12, is one of the youngest in the group which has a 15-year age limit and it was a performance which demonstrated Annabel's consistency.

After putting down a marker against sailors older then herself when she was top British girl in a big four-day international in Holland last month, she was 19th out of 90 in the British qualifying events for the World and European championships.

The placings were decided by competitions over the 2012 Olympic course at Weymouth and they at Pwllheli on the Welsh Coast.

Conditions in the Welsh event were among the most difficult Optimist class sailors would have to face, with 25-knot winds and four foot waves rolling in from the Irish Sea.

Those performances in the qualifiers did not earn her a place in the world championship team, but she was chosen to represent the UK in the French Championships in the unlikely setting of the French Alps, on Lac de Serre at Poncon.

Annabel, who lives at Curdridge and is a member of the Royal Southern Yacht Club at Hamble, was top British girl - when she was just 11 - in last year's under-15 rankings and will be hoping for a repeat this time around.