IT was a case of “home, sweet home” for Laura Cammidge as the partially-sighted sailor secured a silver medal in the Blind Match Racing World Championships on the waters off Helensburgh.

The 27-year-old is a member of the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club in Rhu, which hosted five days of intense competition between blind and partially-sighted sailors from Great Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia last week.

It’s the first time the event has been held in British waters – and Laura, as the only local sailor in the field, put her knowledge to good use to help her GBR2 crew to the second step on the podium in Friday’s final.

And though Laura, the mainsheet trimmer on the GBR2 crew, wasn’t quite able to match the gold medal she won at the Blind Sailing World Championships in Wisconsin in 2017, losing out to Sharon Grennan’s GBR1 crew, she was still pleased with her efforts.

Speaking after Friday’s final, Cammidge said: “This championship has been an excellent week of racing and as the days have gone by we’ve been building on our experience, getting used to sailing well in variable conditions.

“The pre-start in today’s final against GBR1 was very close.

“We were battling each other and fighting for the best position, but unfortunately on the second windward leg we had a technical issue and our race, and regatta, was over.

“To be competing against the current world champions, the fact we were the only team to challenge them is pretty special.

“Although we didn’t get the result we wanted, we pushed them as hard as we could. We’re really happy with silver and the sailing that we’ve done this week.”

Sharon Grennan, who led Liam Cattermole and Lucy Hodges MBE to gold despite being completely blind herself, said: “It’s a brilliant feeling and we’ve had a great time racing against teams from Australia, Canada and the USA, as well as our GBR2 teammates.

“We’ve worked a lot on teamwork and communication on the boat, dividing the roles on the boat and sailing in all weathers which has really helped us to perform when it matters.

“It’s a great feeling to win, but More importantly I’ve really enjoyed meeting sailors from all around the world who’ve come here to compete.

“On the water we are very competitive, but off the water there’s a lot of camaraderie and a lot we can learn from each other.”