JOHN Derbyshire, the man who masterminded Britain's triumphant Olympic sailing campaign, has been appointed as the Royal Yachting Association's new racing manager.

Not only has Derbyshire, 44, been responsible for developing the most successful Olympic team ever - Britain won three gold medals and two silver in Sydney - but he is also coach to Lymington yachtsman Ben Ainslie, who is rated as one of the most talented sailors in the country.

Derbyshire first joined the RYA in 1984 when he was a race instructor at the former National Sailing Centre, after a career as a PE teacher, and went on to specialise in coaching single-handed classes.

He became a full-time RYA instructor in 1990 and accompanied the British squad to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, coaching the Finn and Europe classes.

In 1996, he was the Paralympic Sailing Team Manager in Savannah, coaching Andy Cassell, Kevin Curtis and Tony Downs to the gold medal in the demonstration event.

Four years later, he has become recognised as one of the finest coaches in world sailing, and this latest appointment, in which he will be required to secure and manage lottery funding, encourage youth initiatives and develop RYA's growing involvement with big boat sailing, reflects his increasing stature.

Bill Anderson, the RYA's acting secretary general said: "Even without John's outstanding success as Olympic team manager in Sydney, his background in the sport as a successful coach and competitor, plus experience working for sports councils, made him an obvious choice for this post."