The 31-year old Beijing Olympian, who plans to challenge for gold at London 2012, has picked as her new helm 22-year-old Hannah Mills, the former 470 world junior champion, now that double champion Ayton had chosen to spend more time with her young son.

"As soon as Sarah told me of her decision I think I was even more determined to be there on the startline in 2012 and try and achieve what's been a childhood dream," Clark explained.

"There was no time to waste really, so I spent a lot of time talking to people whose opinions I respect, gathering all the bits of information I could, thinking about where my strengths and weakness lay and where the strengths and weakness were of other 470 helms and I decided that Hannah Mills was definitely the person I wanted to go forward with.

"I think our skillsets complement each other quite well.  Hannah's been in the 470 for a few years so she hasn't got to learn to sail the boat, she's already one of the fastest helms in certain conditions so we can straight away bang on with the racing and communication side of things and not have to spend time polishing up on sailing a 470 fast.

"I remember when Hannah started sailing a 470 - she's obviously a huge talent.

"She's had a difficult few years trying to find a crew that complements her, but even through that time she's been 100 percent dedicated to wanting to achieve a gold medal for Team GB, and that was the factor for me that I was really looking for.

"We've had our first few days out in Palma and so far so good!"

With the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) selectors starting to turn their thoughts towards their Games team choices during 2011, Clark and Mills will have an intense period during which to fine-tune their partnership, but it's a challenge which Clark is excited about.

"I definitely wouldn't have carried on if I didn't think we could do it," said Clark.

"We've got a lot to do, there's no denying that.

I felt anyway, but now I feel even more having done a few days sailing with Hannah, that we've got a lot of potential as a team.

We're hitting the ground running, and we're both mad for it so watch this space!

"2012 is definitely still burning brightly.

"Beijing was an amazing experience but not many athletes get the chance to be at a home Games, so as long as Hannah and I have got that chance then we'll get our heads down and do the hard work."



For Mills, who comes from Cardiff, the new partnership with Clark signals a boost to her own 2012 ambitions.

"I was pretty excited [to get the call from Saskia]," she said.

"For me it was a great opportunity to sail with someone who'd sailed the 470 for a very long time and could sail the boat really well, which is definitely something I've been looking for.

"2012 was always on my horizon, even it if was maybe a bit of a long way away.

"Now sailing with Saskia it's definitely that step closer - we're both revved up and fully up for it and we'll both do everything we can to make a possible become a probable.

"So far it's all going really well, we seem to complement each other pretty well on the water and we both have good input for the other one, so we're learning all the time and getting better pretty quickly so we're excited!

"We've definitely got a lot to cram in, but with both our experiences and the drive that we have – especially coming into it late, it's a good thing in a way as we definitely won't get stale and we'll be up for it 100 percent of the way."

The pair, who will be backed in their campaign by Volvo Car UK, will face their first major regatta test at the next leg of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Series, the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma, Majorca, from April 3-8.

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