SportsAid

Elliot Hanson

Athlete page

key achievements
• Former Topper World No1
• 2009- RYA Laser Radial Youth
Championships- 4th
• 2009- Laser Radial European Youth
Championships- 9th U17
• 2009- Laser Radial World Youth
Championships- 20th U17
• 2009- North West Sailor of the Year Award
• 2009- Final 3 for the National Sailor of the
Year award (U19)

aims
• To gain a top 10 finish for the GBR
Laser Radial squad at the World
Championships in Scotland 2010
• European Championships in Finland
• Gold medal at the Olympics in Laser

Elliot has made the transition from the Topper class to
Laser 4.7 and then Radial. The year started with a brief
stay in the Laser 4.7 class, the same boat with a slightly
smaller sail. However, after feeling confident in the boat,
Elliot felt it was the right time to permanently move into the
Laser Radial.

At his first National Qualifier he finished in 11th place
which was way above his top 30 target. A 19th place at the
next Qualifier took him into the prestigious RYA Volvo
Youth Nationals U19. His final result was 4th which he was
over the moon with considering he had only been in the
class a few months and was one of the youngest there.

This summer his two main events have been the Youth
Europeans in Denmark and the Youth Worlds in Japan. In
Denmark it was all about ‘learning the ropes of travelling
and international racing etc. The wind was suited to his
strengths and overall he had a good event finishing 9th in
the U17.

He went to Japan on his own and after a long tiring week
of racing against boys up to the age of 19 he was left
further down the fleet due to some technical downwind
problems but felt that he learnt a lot from the event. Next
year the World Championships are in Largs, Scotland
where he is aiming for a top 10 finish and 1st at U17.
He has also recently finished 8th overall on the UK
National ranking ladder, 1st junior and 3rd youth. Now
winter is here Elliot is concentrating on training for next
season.

Speaking of his spot on the SportsAid 16 for 2016 list he
said: "I would like to thank SportsAid for believing in me
and supporting me throughout the last year. It is an honour
to be put on the SportsAid 16 for 2016 list and I am really
excited about it. It is also really nice to get some
recognition for all the hard work that goes in. Although the
2016 Olympics are quite a few years away, it does give me
something to aim for in the future and keeps me
motivated."