If ever a sailor was born to be at the Pan American Games, it is Campbell Patton.

With his parents both at home on the water, his mom Christine competed at the 2004 Olympics in Greece, the weight of history will perhaps be propelling him as much as the wind when he takes to the start line in the ILCA Class in Santiago on Saturday.

Patton insists that his family pedigree in the sport is nothing but a positive and the only pressure on his shoulders is placed there by himself.

“Both of my parents are very successful sailors but I’m not doing it for them or to get any approval from them at this point,” Patton said.

“That might have been what kept me in at times when I was a kid but I’m pretty invested now. My mom helps me a lot with logistics, which is something I struggle with.

“There is so much travel and expense involved so she helps with the accounting but both my parents are always there for advice or to pick me up when things haven’t gone right. They understand the nature of the sport and that it’s so fickle. There is a lot of nature that you can’t control and it’s about how you deal with adversity.”

There has not been too much adversity of late with Patton securing the country’s Pan Am Games spot in Florida this year and despite putting in hours of research, the conditions have come as a surprise.

“I had spoken to the sailors that train out of the location in Algarrobo,” Patton said.

“All of the reconnaissance that I did pointed to the conditions being very extreme. It has a lot of wind, big waves and extremely cold water but since I got here the winds have been light and I hope they pick up again.

“I’ve always enjoyed windy conditions even though I’m not the biggest sailor in the fleet. Normally if you are taller and/or heavier you are better suited by windy conditions because of the force you can lean out with. I really enjoy windy weather and I like the physical battle.

“Thinking this will be a windy and wavy regatta, I have put on a little bit of weight and I’ve been in the gym really hard for the last, well seven years really, but hard for the last six months.

“I’m also trying to, whenever there is an opportunity, to get out in windy conditions in Sydney, so I will try to be spontaneous and base my training sessions around when the wind is similar to where I am now.

“The final thing is trying to get training in the waves. We’ve been trying to sail outside Sydney Heads offshore, which is a long journey to get out there but I’ve done a few sessions trying to replicate conditions and that’s been beneficial.”

Patton has been warming up for the event in Australia, where he studies sports science at Sydney University, and the chance to train with the Australian Olympic squad has been too good an opportunity to miss.

“I have been in and out of Australia for the last five years. I’m at university here right now but the main reason I am here is to train with the Australian sailing team, who have the best Olympic Laser squad ever.

“There are so many things that training with these guys does for me. I don’t always get to train with them, it’s only when they have training camps in Sydney that I will get invited to join the Olympic squad, but the thing I have really been able to take away from their group is more the mentality, work ethic and philosophy around how they approach everything and the professionalism and intensity they bring to every training session.

“They try to learn something from every single drill and be intentional with every exercise they do. They never waste a second of training and they are never just out there practising.”

The importance of competition in training cannot be overstated, with Patton having to assess by feel rather than having tangible signs of improvement.

“It is tough to train by yourself because it’s hard to know how well you are doing,” Patton said.

“Without the competition factor it’s hard to push yourself. It’s also difficult to measure success without a training partner or competitor because there is no time, the wind is different every time, the boat is set up different every time, how much physical force you are putting in can be different, so there are so many variables.

“It’s not like going for a 1K run and knowing that you did a little bit better than the last time, so It’s really valuable to have other sailors in training and get video feedback from coaches.”

The ambition is clear in Patton’s voice as the subject turns to the competition and, while he knows he is low on experience compared with some of his sport’s big stars, he believes his work ethic will narrow any gap.

“I wouldn’t use the word intimidating but I’m aware of my lack of experience compared with some of the other competitors,” Patton said.

“I would like to think the hard work I put in will make up for that. I’ve spent a long time in this class now, maybe not compared with some of these guys who have been to a few Olympics but I’ve been in the ILCA Class for seven years now and every bit of training that I’ve done, even when I was racing Optis in Bermuda, all of that is experience that I’ll lean on and use to do the best in this event.”

Olympic qualification is one of the carrots on offer at these Games and Patton believes he has the skills to secure a spot at Paris if everything goes to plan over the next few days.

“It would be ignorant to ignore the elephant in the room, which is Olympic qualification,” Patton said.

“There are two country spots for North American countries, so I need to beat the US, Canada, St Lucia, Puerto Rico, Aruba, Mexico and a few others to get Bermuda the Olympic spot.

“If I do that, we still have more internal qualification points to stack up over the next few months to make sure that I am the chosen representative at the Olympics as, like the Pan Am Games, they only send one sailor.

“Regardless of the Olympic spot, I am also taking the Pan Am Games seriously and I can’t focus on those specific boats because the South American guys are also here. Just doing the best in every race is going to get me to those goals, not focusing on specific countries for the Olympics.

“It’s a high goal to aim for but I think that I’m on track and it will be a really difficult push. If I can get the spot at the Pan Am Games, that will be huge considering the competition I’m up against. There are two more opportunities to get the Olympic spot but ideally we could get it at this event and start preparing accordingly.”