In September Olympic Gold Medallist, Shirley Robertson, and her crew, Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, became the first athletes to be selected for the 2004 British Olympic Team at their sailing world championship in Cadiz, Spain.

On 1 November, the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, in Shirley’s hometown of Cowes, Isle of Wight, hosted a gala fundraising evening named ‘Gold Ambition’. The aim of the evening was to raise £34,000; enough money to build a boat the Shirley and her crew would sail at next years Olympics.

The evening was an outstanding success raising £60,000. This figure included 34 people each donating £1,000 to buy a 34th share in the Olympic boat.

Past and present Olympic medallists also showed their support on the evening, including double Olympic silver medallist in Atlanta and Sydney and Britain’s Americas Cup skipper, Ian Walker, and Jo Richards, Olympic bronze medallist in Los Angeles in 1984.