CARLTON Colville sailor Nic Asher believes he is on course for his third world championship title after a solid start to 2009. Asher and his sailing partner Elliot Willis, who were unlucky to miss out on a chance to go for Olympic gold in Beijing last year, have been competing in the new ISAF Sailing World Cup.

CARLTON Colville sailor Nic Asher believes he is on course for his third world championship title after a solid start to 2009.

Asher and his sailing partner Elliot Willis, who were unlucky to miss out on a chance to go for Olympic gold in Beijing last year, have been competing in the new ISAF Sailing World Cup.

And although the duo are yet to win one of the five rounds of the competition to date, they believe they are ready for an excellent crack at the world crown in Copenhagan in August.

Having just completed rounds four and five of the world cup, finishing sixth and fourth respectively, Asher said the pair were happy with the way things are going with their newly-designed sails.

'We now have a few weeks back at home before we head out to round six in Kiel, Germany from the June 20 to 24,' he said.

'We are fairly happy with the start to our competitive season.

'There are little improvements to be made, but we have plenty of training in Weymouth planned to make sure we are ready to win our third World title in Copenhagen at the end of August.'

Round four of the world cup, in Hyeres, France, was Asher and Willis' first Grade 1 regatta of 2009.

It turned out to be a very closely fought battle, and they were greeted with strong winds and big waves. However, they did not quite get things right and finished in sixth overall, three points off bronze.

'It was the first time we have used our new design sails in strong winds, so we weren't quite sure on the correct setup, and consequently didn't have the boat speed,' Asher said.

'But overall we felt it was a great first regatta with plenty of positives.'

'Following Hyeres we had a training camp in Hayling Island, where there were strong winds. This was ideal as we could iron out our strong wind setup and get the boat up to speed.'

Round 5 of the cup was in Medemblik, Holland and the pair put in an improved performance.

'The first day we had 20-25 knots (very windy) and nasty waves,' Asher said. 'We came off the water very happy with a first and second place. We had definitely overcome our initial setup problems!'

The rest of the regatta was completed in light winds, and having said that we started the medal race tied in second place with local favourites Sven and Kalle Coster, who were fourth in the Beijing Olympics, Asher and Willis had to be content with fourth overall, four points off gold and three points off silver and bronze.