Saskia Clark has admitted that she and helm Hannah Mills may “get a bit of a kicking” when they defend their 470 sailing world title.

West Mersea’s London Olympics silver medal winner knows a successful defence will be difficult when they set sail at the 470 World Championships in La Rochelle at the start of August.

They haven’t sailed competitively in the 470 class since stepping on to the second step of the podium at Weymouth last year and Clark concedes that their own preparations will have fallen behind those of hungry young crews looking to claim their world crown.

Clark and Mills became 470 Women’s World Champions in Barcelona last year, before going on to take Olympic silver and even though they know they may struggle to hold on to the world title, they will learn plenty from competing in France.

The 33-year-old from Mersea said: “We’re prepared to get a bit of a kicking at this year’s World Championships as a number of other teams – especially the younger teams that didn’t qualify for London 2012 – have been putting in the hours over the winter.

“Either way, the regatta, along with the lessons from the Olympics, will form the basis of our 2013/14 winter training schedule.”

See Thursday's Daily Gazette for more on this story.