WEST Mersea sailor Hannah Stodel boosted her Rio hopes by striking gold at the Garda Trentino Olympic Week in Italy.

Stodel, along with fellow crew members John Robertson and Stephen Thomas, won the Paralympic Sonar class at the event, staged at Lake Garda.

A week of very unsettled weather limited the number of races, with a lack of wind reducing the amount of action.

However, Stodel and crew were able to claim gold at the event, which saw the largest turnout in the Paralympic classes.

It follows up their Sonar silver medal at the World Cup in France, earlier this month.

The trio will now move onto Para World Sailing Championships in the Netherlands, which start on Saturday.