Volvo Noble Marine RS200 Nationals at Mount's Bay - Runners and Riders

Volvo Noble Marine R200 Nationals at Mount's Bay day 4 © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

The best part of 200 sailors will be descending on the beautiful seaside town of Marazion this weekend for five days of waves, wind, thrills and spills for the Volvo Noble Marine RS200 nationals held from the highly regarded Mount's Bay SC.

With steady improvement year on year and a comprehensive win in July's Gold Cup at Travemünder Woche, Josh Metcalf & Millie Alcock go into this years' nationals with the chance to improve on their 10th place at the 2015 nationals and challenge for the top few.

The young team of Owen Bowerman & Megan Brickwood are taking a break from BAR academy and 49er FX training to come and test their skills down in the west country. Owen will no doubt be looking to improve on his top 20 finish last year, this time recruiting Megan, a 470 Junior Worlds Silver medallist crew.

Defending champions James Peters & Joanna Wright will surely be looking to retain their title from 2015. With James's 49er duties as training partner in Rio done and dusted and Jo taking a short break from her triathlon training, this pair could take some beating once again this year.

Having finished as runners up at last years' nationals, George Yoeman & Sophie Ormsby will certainly be one of the top boats once again this year, with their results improving consistently year on year. There's only one place to go from second with that in mind.

Last time the nationals were at Mount's Bay, Matt Mee & Emma Norris sailed a superb week to take the title. Matt & Emma therefore join with James & Jo as one of the two complete teams to have previously been champions. With no reason why they couldn't repeat their performance from 2013, they go into this years' nationals as one of the favourites.

A strong challenge will certainly come from Hamish Walker and ex-national champion crew Emma Hivey, having finished 3rd and 9th at the 2014 and 2015 nationals respectively as a team.

Ben Palmer & Amy Seabright will no doubt bring a strong threat for the title this year. With a shiny brand new boat and Amy in the front who earlier this year won a bronze medal at the Palma regatta in the 470 class, it's clear that the calibre of this team could no doubt challenge for the victory.

We complete the runners and riders with a couple of teams who would be more than capable to sailing a regatta to challenge for the title. Firstly, Jonny & Sarah McGovern certainly know how to pick a shift or two and we'll surely be seeing them near the top come the end of the week. Matt Burge, having won multiple nationals championship titles in the more conventional classes, teams up with ex RS200 nationals and Endeavour winning crew Toby Lewis to surely push the very best.

It's obvious that the result next week will be very hard to predict, with so many teams clearly having the ability to take the title. The highly esteemed buddy, youth entry and fancy dress prizes will also be up for grabs and could quite possibly be equally hard fought for! Keep up to date on the website and the class association Facebook page for updates and interviews during the week.

See you there!