ZOE PARKINSON (pictured) has become the first Guernsey sailor to be selected to represent Great Britain at the Optimist European Championships.

The 14-year-old daughter of Charles Parkinson, the Treasury and Resources minister, competed in two British selection trials with fellow island sailors, Johanna Asplund and Abigail Tanguy.

The selection events took place in Pwllheli, north Wales, at the end of April and at Weymouth last weekend.

Parkinson junior turned in fantastic performances to book her place in the seven-strong British team.

‘Britain is the best sailing country in the world, so to make it into that team was a brilliant achievement,’ said Guernsey team manager Henrik Asplund.

‘With three sailors competing at that sort of level shows that the Guernsey Sailing Club is one of the best Optimist clubs in the country. They have done extremely well.’