THE JOURNEY continues for windsurfing prospect Sam Sills as he pursues his quest for a place representing Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

Sam, from Cornwall, although only 22, has already won two world championships at youth level and is now looking to take his sport to the next level. The former Tavistock College student, who lives in Launceston, just finished training with seven times Olympian Joao Rodrigues in Madeira, an island off Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean. Sam also spent the winter in Gran Canaria, training alongside athletes from Norway, Sweden and Spain.

But there is no place like home for Sam who returned two weeks ago from Madeira to spent some welcome time with family and friends.

‘I feel really privileged to be able to do this. I know how extremely lucky I am to go to some wonderful places in the world but it takes a lot of commitment at this level and needs 100 per cent of my energy to focus on trying to improve and compete.

‘But I just love coming home to Cornwall. Its the best place in the world and everytime I come back I really appreciate its sense of timelessness and natural beauty.’

Sam’s task to secure that future Olympic place is made even more difficult by the fact that in his windsurfing class only one man and one woman are selected to represent each country; he realises that if he has any chance of success then he must continue to adopt a professional attitute in approaching his training and competitions.

He told the Times: ‘Windsurfing is a power and endurance based sport, combining tactics, technical skills and speed.

‘We train for three weeks very intensely and then rest for one. If I’m not training then I’m working part time as a naval architect. I had some great support to help secure sponsorship so I could compete and I would like to thank Charlotte Dart and Adam Cooper at Kite Vision Aerial Drone Specialists from Callington, all the people at Autospray in Lifton and the Barn Climbing Centre in Milton Abbot for helping me.’

Sam will be now be competing on the windsailing World Tour starting in Palma, Mallorca, Hyeres France, Lake Garda Italy, Medemblik, Holland and finishing in Helsinki, Finland.

He’ll be writing and photographing about his experiences and Times readers can follow these on his social media sites.

His identical twin sisters Saskia and Imogen, aged 19, also love the sport and are on a similar pathway — led by big brother Sam — and are hoping to join him on part of the World Tour.

Sam has worked hard to reach such heights in his chosen sport and although the Olympics he is aiming for is four years away, he has now set his sails to reach the next level to challenge for that one precious place in the Great Britain Olympic team.

There are many in West Devon who will be following Sam’s progress, wishing him well on his Olympic journey.

‘I am only 22 and hope to give it another four or five years to follow my windsurfing career and get it right. You only have one chance,’ he said, ‘and one day I would love to put something back to this exciting sport which has given so much over the years.’