Great Briton rules the waves

Ian Williams tweeted the other day that he wished he had taken up tennis: "Wimbledon prize money to increase by 40 per cent - seems I'm in the wrong sport."

But if that was the case, it is doubtful Britain's four-time World Match Racing champion would be enjoying being top of the roost, ranked world number one, for history would weigh against him; Fred Perry, in 1941, was the last British male tennis player to be ranked world number one.

The forks in life's pathway could easily have taken Williams, 36, elsewhere. As a talented teenager, he could have chosen any number of sports, but he answered the call of sailing, something which started as a recreation following in the footsteps of his parents, but has now reached a professional career - albeit without the immense monetary rewards of other professional sports.

"I played a lot of sports as a schoolboy, particularly hockey and rugby, but I would have liked to play more cricket which is a game I really enjoy. Unfortunately, it is a summer sport and it clashed with sailing," said Williams, who will be the man everyone will be aiming to beat at the 1010 4G Hong Kong International Match Racing Regatta from May 10-12.

It is Williams' first visit to Hong Kong and he is excited at the prospect of taking part in the grade two match-racing regatta as well as taking in the sights of a city "I have heard about a lot from my uncle who used to live there for many years".

Work, though, will come before play for Williams, who is a nine-time winner on the world match-racing tour, and he will not have it all his way as he encounters a strong field including two others ranked in the top 10 - New Zealanders Phil Robertson (four) and William Tiller (five) - in the 12-strong fleet, which will take part in 60 races over three days in Victoria Harbour.