Sam Sills was on top of the sailing world before a dramatic recent accident saw him forced back to the drawing board.

The iQFoiL star from Launceston was knocked off his scooter on the way to training a mere two weeks before the recent Olympic Test Event in Marseille, opting to still compete but ultimately falling short of his usual standard.

Sills will be back on the international scene at the upcoming Allianz Sailing World Championships this week, joining the best competitors for a shot at the world title as well as Olympic qualification in The Hague from tomorrow (Friday).

And after a strong start to the year, the 30-year-old hopes he will be back to his fighting best in the Netherlands after some much-needed rest and recovery.

"It was a really special couple of months with bronze at the iQFoil Games, that was a really memorable time of my life," he said.

"Then as the year progressed, I struck gold at Princesa Sofia which felt like all the work over the winter was coming together.

"But I've faced a lot of adversity and injuries since then.

"I was badly injured just two weeks before the Olympic Test Event in Marseille.

"I had a car accident on my scooter and almost broke my wrist.

"Prior to that I had a couple of injuries in the build-up and I thought I'd be fine in Marseille, but it was very hard.

"Once you have injuries it's not easy to get back to 100% performance because the game moves on, but I'm really excited for the Worlds now and to see what I can do.

"And I've traded my scooter for cycling now."

Sills will feel right at home in the saddle as he gears up for the World Championships in the cycling capital.

A naval architect off the water, he has been involved in a range of environmental projects over the past few years – including the world's first electric lifeboat.

And by using his broad knowledge of physics on the water at this year's World Championships, Sills hopes to get an edge over his competitors and improve on his 16th place finish from 2022.

He said: "I've had some cool projects at work recently. I was part of a project in Norway where they were converting diesel propelled lifeboats into electric.

"I did the studies to see whether it was feasible, and the prototypes are the first of their kind in the world.

"My work helps massively in my competitive career because, especially in sailing, there's a lot of variables.

"Being able to understand the principles and the physics through my job definitely helps me avoid any rabbit holes that other sailors can fall into."

Follow the British Sailing Team at the upcoming Sailing World Championships in The Hague, Netherlands, on Instagram at @britishsailing