POOLE'S Olympic sisters Lucy and Kate Macgregor have set themselves separate new challenges following the break-up of their London games team.

The Poole Yacht Club siblings, along with Parkstone sailor Annie Lush, were forced to split after their discipline was dropped from the 2016 Olympic programme in Rio.

They had formed Britain’s match-racing team who were ranked second in the world in the Elliott 6m class.

The trio’s quest for an Olympic medal, however, ended in disappointment when they were knocked out at the quarter-final stage in Weymouth this summer.

While Lush remains on the match-race circuit the Macgregor sisters have set themselves new goals in different classes.

Lucy has set her sights on catamaran success in Rio by teaming up with 24-year-old Tom Phipps from Falmouth.

The 26-year-old match-racing skipper and Phipps plan to compete in the Nacra 17 mixed two-person multihull event.

While the pair wait for the delivery of their new Nacra they have been competing with a Viper.

“It has been great to get back out there with another challenge to overcome”, she said. “Although there’s a lot to learn, we still managed a second place at our first open event.

“If the Elliott was in the Games again for 2016 I probably wouldn't have got into the boat until after Christmas.

“But learning to sail a cat has actually felt like a break, and I wouldn't change the past couple of months for anything.

"I had to get back out on the water quickly because I was changing classes, so it's given me something really fun and exciting to focus on,” added Lucy.

Meanwhile ‘little sis’ Kate has returned to Southampton Solent University to complete her business management degree, but has not turned her back on competitive sailing.

She has made the move into 49ers – the FX version with a smaller rig – and is currently sailing with Mary Rook in the RYA’s rotation system.

This squad has four teams who rotate to allow the best pairings to shine.

The Macgregor sisters will continue training in the warmer climes of Murcia, Spain where Kate will continue her studies ‘on line’. After this they move on to Palma for the Princess Sofia Regatta in April.

Annie Lush, meanwhile, has become a key member of USA's Sally Barkow’s team who played the 'comeback kids' by defeating the USA's Dave Perry 3-0 in the Finals at the fifth Carlos Aguilar Match Race recently.

She will be taking some time out from Olympic sailing for the next few months to take part in the Volvo Ocean Race trials starting in January.

Lush will be sailing the old ‘Puma’ boat from Southampton to Lanzarote, where the training for the ladies’ team will take over the next year.

All three hope to be sailing as the Match Race Girls in a few events in 2013 but are also looking forward to their independent challenges.