Lymington's Olympic hopefuls Olympic hopefuls Vita Heathcote and Ryan Orr look ahead after difficult year

ROYAL Lymington Yacht Club sailors and future Olympic hopefuls Vita Heathcote and Ryan Orr have taken stock of a tricky season, but are quickly turning their eyes to what’s next.

The duo, who teamed up in 2019, started the year with top-10 regatta finishes in Palma and Hyeres.

After spending the summer training in Marseille, getting to grips with the Olympic venue and what the pair might expect in summer 2024, family loss and injury have made it hard to push through the season’s final stage.

Heathcote said: “Autumn came with a couple of devastating traumas which threatened to put us off track. However, we made the best of some horrible situations, supported each other, and have come together stronger as a team as a result.

“Individually, we made leaps of progress in certain aspects when we could not sail together. We couldn’t make it to the Europeans, which at first seemed like a disaster, but actually we both learned a lot from a different perspective, and it gave us a chance to step back and reassess some points in our campaign, which I believe will enrich it going forward.”

Heathcote raced the Europeans with her younger brother William and ended up in good shape at the end of the event, finishing 16th overall and first-placed juniors.

After seven weeks out of the boat, Orr eventually got the all-clear from an injury a week before the duo were scheduled to fly out for the world championships.

Heathcote added: “We had a good week overall, particularly the start of the gold fleet, with a bullet [first place] in the first race. What a feeling, to come back from such a low and be winning races!

“Unfortunately, we had a shocking last three races, moving us down the pan quite a bit. We weren’t expecting to be a polished product, but this was frustrating to finish on some bad races.

“We finished up 14th which we were pleased with considering the circumstances. We came away with major positive changes in our racing; our starts were better than they’ve ever been, and we were rapid in the 15+ wind range.”

Heathcote and Orr, who have affectionately amalgamated their first names to ‘RyVita’, will now turn their eyes to their winter training, ready to start next year well as the sailing community enters the Olympic selection trials.

For more information or to follow their journey, visit their Facebook page ‘RyVita Sailing’.