Skandia Team GBR s Helena Lucas is one of a few sailors who know what it s like to campaign for both the Paralympic and Olympic Games.

Recently nominated for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2006, for her achievements in both Paralympic sailing and Olympic sailing, the ever-enthusiastic Lucas was keen to talk about how she moved from Olympic to Paralympic sailing and the major differences between the two circuits.

I first started sailing the 2.4mR in January 2004, after missing out on selection in the 470, for the Athens Olympic.

I had been campaigning the 470 on and off for six years and knew nothing about Paralympic sailing and the 2.4mR, until I got chatting to Rob Andrews (my coach at the time), about my future and what to do next.

Initially I was a little sceptical about going down the Paralympic route, unsure if I was going to get the same buzz competing at Paralympic level and whether I was going to enjoy sailing the 2.4mR.

At the time I thought I would be unique having competed on both the Olympic and Paralympic circuits, but I quickly realised that the guys at the front of the fleet had also done Olympic campaigns and that they were seriously competitive.

I think my sailing has improved since moving in to the 2.4mR and certainly my knowledge of keelboats, which was non existent before, has vastly grown. This newfound knowledge of keelboats really showed itself when I got to the Test event in China, when I took over the helm of Shirley Robertson s Yngling and won a Silver medal.

I run my Paralympic campaign the same way as I would run an Olympic campaign, and certainly the RYA s positive attitude towards the Paralympics makes this possible. There are many similarities between the two, both need the same amount of effort, commitment and professionalism, however I am doing far more development work in the 2.4mR than I ever considered or could do in the 470.

One of the largest differences between competing on the Olympic and Paralympic circuits is the number of regattas we have. The class doesn t compete at many of large Olympic class regattas like Palma or Holland Regatta and we don t have a Europeans; however this give us more re time to train and work on the development of the boat and what makes her go fast. The 2.4mR calendar also includes an Open Class Worlds (open to able and disabled sailors) as well as the IFDS worlds.

While Paralympic sailing and the 2.4mR class is open to both men and women, the girls are seriously in the minority. Megan Pascoe (also a member of Skandia Team GBR) and I are pretty much the only women campaigning in the 2.4mR worldwide.

With only three classes the 2.4mR, Sonar and Skud18 competing at the Paralympic Games, the teams are much smaller and the Paralympic venue can at times feel a little like a Ghost town after the Olympics have come and gone.

Being a much smaller Paralympic team does have its advantages like more one on one time with coaches, but one of the things I enjoyed the most in China, (apart from winning a silver medal!) was being part of the bigger Olympic squad, and I think that is probably what I miss the most.

I feel really fortunate that I am able to continue to step between Paralympic and Olympic sailing, and to compete at the test event in the Yngling, a class I had never sailed before was a really good experience and something I doubt my major competitors in the 2.4mR will ever be asked to do.

In some ways I now have an edge over the other 2.4mR sailors as there is no Paralympic Test Event they will not get the experience or knowledge of the venue until the actual games.