Top teenage sailor Hannah Stodel has made a lucrative start to the new millennium.

The 14-year-old from Empress Avenue, West Mersea, has just been awarded £5,000 for a new dinghy by the Foundation for Sport and the Arts.

It rounds off another successful year for Hannah, who, although born without a right forearm, has sailed since the age of four.

She is the first recipient of the new Nelson Scholarship, awarded for maritime interest by the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook.

And she received the BT Yachting Journalists Association Young Sailor of the Year, beating two 18-year-old male competitors in the process.

On the other side of the awards rostrum, she presented prizes to other disabled sailors during Cowes Week.

Her main racing success came off Cape Town, South Africa, where she was the second lady home, with helm Melissa Heppell, 19, in the Mirror Dinghy World Championships.

Looking ahead to this season, she said: "I am continuing to train with the British youth squad, and, hopefully, compete in events with them in Italy and Finland with Melissa's brother Toby."

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