Veteran skipper Stevie Dickinson has already set himself goals to strive for in the new year.

And among them is competing in the 2007 North American Snipe Championships to be held on local waters next April.

The East End Mini Yacht Club skipper dominated last weekend's Laser Radial Nationals in the Great Sound to put the icing on another superb sailing season which saw him savour an unprecedented 14th Edward Cross title, sailing in the Comet class.

Dickinson posted three bullets to finish the regatta with a total of 14 points after discarding his worst finish (21st). And now the 46-year-old skipper has set his sights on next year's North American Snipe Championships to be held on the Great Sound.

"The Laser is more of a boat-handling boat which will help me in the Snipes which I plan to start practising in around mid January," Dickinson told The Royal Gazette.

"The Laser is more unstable and so you need to learn how to stabilise the boat and if anything at all this will assist me in the Snipe.

"Right now the Laser class is one of the most active small boats around and I want to sail as much as I possibly can. And so the Laser is the boat to sail at the moment."

Dickinson competed in this year's North American Snipe Championships in Gull Lake, Michigan along with crew Leatrice Roman, placing 20th in a fleet of 54 boats.

"I think I still need to put more time in the boat and get things up to par in the Snipes," Dickinson continued. "But I had a good weekend in the Lasers.

"I think I'm really starting to understand the boat. I thought the conditions favoured me a bit, and overall my boat handling seems to be getting much better."