“Its official, I’m off again on another Olympic campaign.

“The Yngling is once more out of the shed, the drysuit is out of the cupboard, the Gym is becoming my second home and I’m pounding the streets of London on the sponsorship trail to make sure we have funding in place for both Beijing and ideally London 2012 as well.

“It feels both exciting and a bit scary, a new crew and a new challenge. I’m thrilled to be sailing with Annie Lush, we trained together in the build up to Athens and over the last two years I’ve watched her develop into a truly world class crew. In the last month alone she has won both the World Women’s Keelboat Championships and the Women’s World Match Race Championships sailing with America’s top Yngling sailor Sally Barkow.

“We are still looking to fill the bow-girl position; one of our main goals is to run crew trials over the coming months to pick the right person before Christmas. Helping Annie and I make the decision will be Andy Beadsworth, a key coach in my Athens build up and an experienced Olympic campaigner.

“I am excited to be starting again with a new team; the campaign already feels fresh, fun and full of energy. On the scary side, we have a lot to do, this is a minimum three year project and of course I know more than anyone all the hard work we’ll have to put in and the inevitable highs and lows we will go through over the coming years. Who wouldn’t find that a bit scary!”