Helensburgh's Olympic sailing silver medallist Luke Patience is ready for his next test with new crew Joe Glanfield when the pair go into battle at the 470 Open European Championships in Formia, Italy, next week (10-15 June). The 26-year-old teamed up with Exmouth's double Olympic silver medallist Glanfield earlier this year after splitting with his 2012 medal-winning teammate Stuart Bithell, with the new pairing enjoying early success with a bronze medal at their debut World Cup series regatta in Palma in April.
The six-day European Championships on the west Italian coast will be Patience and Glanfield's third event together in the 470, with the team looking to cement their new partnership with European success next week as a stepping stone towards their peak event of the year - the World Championships at La Rochelle, France, in August.
Although Patience skipped the 2012 edition of the European Championships when it was held on his home waters of Largs to prepare for his Olympic challenge in Weymouth, he has previous form at the event, winning silver in 2011 and bronze in 2010 with Bithell.
In the 76-boat men's event, likely rivals for the men's European crown next week will include Croatia's Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic, and the Greek pairing of Mantis Panagiotis and Pavlos Kagialis, while Australia's Olympic gold medallist Mat Belcher with Will Ryan, and the Argentinian 2012 Games bronze medallists Lucas Calabrese and Juan de la Fuente - although ineligible for the European title - will challenge for overall honours at this Open event.
Also in action in the women's 470 Europeans will be Rhu's Anna Burnet, competing with Edinburgh-based crew Flora Stewart. The duo, who were sixth at the 2012 Europeans in Largs, have recently begun campaigning full time towards Rio 2016 qualification after completing their university degrees in Southampton and Bath respectively.
Racing at the 470 Open European Championships gets underway on Monday 10 June, with an 11-race series scheduled before the final medal races for the top eight boats on Saturday 15 June.
Follow the event at http://europeans.470.org with race updates on the British team sailors throughout the week on Twitter @BritishSailing
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