IS Tom Storey one of sailing's youngest world champions?

The 12-year-old came through a battle against 107 young sailors in Bruinisse, Holland, to become the new king of the RS Tera Sport class following a week of competition.

Storey, a pupil at St Olave's School, in York, took part in nine challenging races in varying conditions at the 2015 RS Tera World Championships and took the title after a consistent performance which saw him take two outright wins among several second places.

Crucially, the Ripon Sailing Club youngster had a couple of wins over the second placed finisher and will now look to defend his title at Club de Vela Santona in Northern Spain next year.

The club, which is based just outside Knaresborough on Farnham Lake, had a strong entry in both the Sport and Pro class with several other notable finishers including Jamie Rastrick in seventh, Ollie Kent in eighth and Ellie Clark in 31st.

In the Pro competition, Henry Rastrick missed out on a podium place by a single point and had to settle for fourth.

The RS Tera class is a single handed racing dinghy designed for children and teens. With two versions, the RS Tera Sport is designed for youngsters up to age of 16 while the RS Tera Pro has a more powerful sail.

Both are designed so they can be rigged, launched and recovered by individuals.

Ripon Sailing Club is an RYA accredited sailing school and teaches all abilities from total novices to experienced sailors.

Andy Cheetham, of the club, said: "Our main delight for him is that he has come through the ranks. He has learned to sail at the club and he has become a world champion. The club does lots of work with children, particularly on Saturdays and a few of the other juniors are doing very well.

"To start sailing with the club and then to start winning major trophies is good for the club and testament to the training they are getting. Tom is a brilliant young lad. He's a lovely person and, at 12, can compete at that level.

"He has been up against 16-year-olds and he might be another three or four time world champion by the time he gets to that age. That would be amazing."

For more information about the club, log on www.ripon-sc.org.uk