In 2012 the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy will be the venue of the sailing in the Olympics. I moved to Weymouth five years ago because of the fantastic sailing, and to have the UK successfully bid for the Olympics (and get them in Weymouth) was a dream come true.


Sailing, probably more so than any sport, rewards the home advantage. This is because no race track is ever quite the same. By 2012 I hope to have sailed on every race course in every wind strength/direction, sea state and current there is.


Building work is progressing extremely rapidly with the initial phase costing nearly eight million pounds, the majority of which comes from the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) and Sports England (via the National lottery).


Every time I go down, real progress has been made, with the slipways being extended to 150 m and a small marina is be built, all to be finished this year (at the cost of nearly seven million through the Olympic Delivery Authority). This will be absolutely fantastic as it will give many generations of sailors absolute World Class training facilities (already 1000 local children have been introduced to sailing through the WPNSA).


This year I shall be competing at the WPNSA in the Byte World Championships the last week of August. The WPNSA hosts a number of high profile dinghy events and although I have never sailed a Byte (and won’t until the first day of the event) I can hardly turn down such an excellent opportunity with the racing on my doorstep and another major championship under my belt at the Olympic venue.