MONTREAL - Rebecca Abelson is still a teen but she’s got the seafaring skills of an experienced sailor.

Abelson is a champion racer of the laser radial, a tiny 12-foot sailboat that dodges and darts at high speeds atop the water.

She is told that her earliest moments on the water were when she was strapped to the mast of her dad’s catamaran at the tender age of one.

Although the sport requires speed, agility and physical strength, Abelson chooses to compare it to a quieter sport: chess.

“In sailing you also have to think about the next move and your body has to follow. So if you can't keep up physically with what the boat is doing then you can't really do what you head is telling you do to do,” said Abelson.

Abelson, ranked Canada’s second best in the under-17 category, sails five days a week but also hits the gym six days. She sails for Quebec’s elite team and scored three Cork medals last year. She has competed in the European championships in Helsinki and the Laser Youth World Championships in France.

Her dad said that she was quickly spotted as a possible talent at her first sailing school.

“She started to get really good in a short period of time and she came to speak to me and said, ‘Dad this boat is too soft and not really competitive. I need a new boat.’ I told her straight out, 'you haven't won anything yet and if you win I will buy you a new boat,'” said her father Charles Abelson.

Within a few days she won her first race and dad replaced the 12-year-old boat with a new one.

Those who know Rebecca describe her racing style with words such as aggressive, focused and physical.

Rebecca’s coach believes that her young protégée can reach the top of the world of competitive sailing if she continues on her current watery path.

“Any exposure that you can have to different sailors and International competition it helps. Obviously you have to do a lot of training based at home and long hours on the water,” said Team Quebec Coach Rosie Chapman.

Rebecca thinks that there’s even a chance at getting to the next Olympics in Brazil.

“I'd love to go to Rio, or 2020 as well because I'd still be young and I think in a sailor's career you usually get good in your mid to late 20"s so it's important to keep working at it,” she said.