UNITED KINGDOM: OLYMPICS/SAILING: Professional sailors train in the English seaside town of Weymouth ahead of the Olympic Games, to learn about its first class sailing waters

Record ID: 329671

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: OLYMPICS/SAILING: Professional sailors train in the English seaside town of Weymouth ahead of the Olympic Games, to learn about its first class sailing waters
  • Date: 26th July 2011
  • Summary: PORTLAND, ENGLAND (RECENT - JULY 19, 2011) (REUTERS) VIEW LOOKING DOWN ON WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND HARBOUR AND BAY, WHERE OLYMPIC SAILING WILL BE HELD SAIL BOATS AND WINDSURFERS ON WATER PORTLAND, ENGLAND (RECENT - JULY 18, 2011) (REUTERS) TEAM GB, TEAM SWEDEN AND TEAM USA LASER SAILORS TRAINING IN BAY OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNER, BRITAIN'S PAUL GOODISON IN TRAINING SESSION SAILING AROUND BUOY LASER SAILORS IN TRAINING TEAM SWEDEN SAILOR TRAINING (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNER, BRITAIN'S PAUL GOODISON, SAYING: "We've got eleven different classes we can medal in and we've got good opportunities to medal in all those classes, so fingers crossed we get a full sweep, but that's not always that realistic." VARIOUS OF GOODISON AND OTHER SAILORS TRAINING (SOUNDBITE) (English) EMIL CEDERGARDH, SWEDISH LASER SAILOR, SAYING: "It's absolutely amazing sailing. Out there it is big waves and often a lot of wind and inside here (harbour) you can get tricky shifts. It's a lot of different sailing. A different area here, so it is perfect." (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAD FUNK, AMERICAN LASER SAILOR , SAYING: "The breeze is probably one of the best places to train in the world I think. It pretty much went through the night, it was howling and shaking the house, so yeah, it's pretty windy here." GOODISON DRAGGING HIS BOAT TO SHORE (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNER, BRITAIN'S PAUL GOODISON, SAYING: "I think in some ways it is a great advantage as in it's only a mile away from home and it is easy to put the time in, but on the other hand it's actually very difficult to get away from this place. So the foreigners do actually have a bit of an advantage that they can go away and go home and forget about it. Sometimes we are here and can never get away." WINDSURFERS ON WATER SWISS WINDSURFER TRAINING POLISH WINDSURFER TRAINING MORE OF WINDSURFERS
  • Embargoed: 10th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Lifestyle,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAA63AYOHONS861CM81RPAKG919
  • Story Text: The wild and windy waters off Weymouth are a dream for sailors and some of the world's best have already descended on the quaint English seaside town to train for the 2012 Olympics.
    The coastal resort has received 250 million pounds of investment and boasts an impressive new Sailing Academy and 580-berth marina, the construction of which was speeded up in order to host the Olympic sailing events.
    Team GB, which had great success in the Beijing 2008 Games hauling in four golds, one silver and one bronze, train alonside their foreign competitors in the hopes of bringing in even more medals next year.
    Paul Goodison, who took Olympic gold in the laser class at Qingdao, said Team GB are setting their sights high.
    "We've got eleven different classes we can medal in and we've got good opportunities to medal in all those classes, so fingers crossed we get a full sweep, but that's not always that realistic," he told Reuters after a morning's training session out on the Weymouth waters.
    Foreign teams have been coming and going to Weymouth over the past few months to learn what unique challenges the waters offer.
    They are all delighted with the windy conditions.
    "It's absolutely amazing sailing. Out there it is big waves and often a lot of wind and inside here you can get tricky shifts. It's a lot of different sailing. A different area here, so it is perfect," said Emil Cedergardh, a laser sailor from Sweden.
    "The breeze is probably one of the best places to train in the world I think," said Team USA competitor Brad Funk.
    After the surprise success of reaching fourth on the medal table in Beijing, Team GB now view themselves as the hunted rather than the hunter - particularly in sports like sailing and cycling.
    Whilst the thought of competing on home turf is a huge boost, it does have its downside and can place extra pressure on athletes, said Goodison.
    "I think in some ways it is a great advantage as in it's only a mile away from home and it is easy to put the time in, but on the other hand it's actually very difficult to get away from this place. So the foreigners do actually have a bit of an advantage that they can go away and go home and forget about it. Sometimes we are here and can never get away," he said.
    Fourth place on the medal table remains the target for Team GB after their Beijing success, with China, Russia and the US medal totals deemed out of reach.
    Stephen Park, Team GB Sailing Manager, said it will be a "tough ask."
    "We have been major contributors to that tally over the last Olympic Games and we do feel the pressure to continue to deliver at the end of the day. However, we've just got to go about our business...and make sure that we've left no stone unturned," he said.
    Weymouth and Portland is already reknowned for international dinghy events, such as the World Cup annual Sail for Gold competition. The Academy is preparing for the Olympic test event, the International Regatta, starting on July 31.
    It now hopes the Olympic effect will catapult it into the big leagues, by attracting even bigger international sailing events.
    "Just giving us that international exposure that money can't buy. We've had so much interest, so many people coming down here and the big international events coming here, so it's just exposed us to the whole world. It's been a fantastic opportunity for us," said Rachel Sadler, Deputy Chief Executive Sailing Academy.
    It is not just the sailing sector that hopes to harness the Olympic effect and rejuvenate sleepy Weymouth's ailing economy.
    The local council wants to modernise the seaside town's image and move away from the long-faded 18th century splendour, fish and chips and donkey rides on the beach and actively push to attract a younger, more adventurous visitor keen to explore the area's jurassic coastline and outdoor sports.
    Jacqui Gisborne, from Weymouth And Portland 2012 Operations Team, said the town's population will double over the Olympic period next summer and hopefully many will want to return in following years.
    "During the Games time we are looking to be hosting an additional 60 thousand people a day. And we believe that in those 60 thousand will be a lot of new visitors who are going to come to come to the area, who don't really know what to expect, maybe just think it's a seaside town and are going to be pleasantly surprised at what else there is to do here," she said.
    But for all the council's enthusiasm, some locals are still struggling to embrace the town's Olympic status.
    Guest houses near the beach front which received enquiries within minutes of Weymouth being chosen, still have vacant rooms as some regular holidaymakers, mostly elderly people and young families, have decided to keep away next year.
    "The trains of thought at the moment are, and I have guests in who are telling me this, that they are not going to be coming here because of the Olympics, so in some respects it is a bad thing because it is driving regulars away," said Michael Williams, owner of a Weymouth guest house.
    Despite local fears that Weymouth could be changed for the worse, the essence of the quaint English seaside resort remains intact. Union Jacks and bunting flutter above the narrow tourist shopping street near the seafront, selling sticks of English rock and fish and chips.
    Local businessman and champion of the Olympics' cause Pat Silverton, the architect of installing all the flags, said he hopes in time, Weymouth will look back on the 2012 Games and embrace its much-hoped for legacy.
    "I know many of the traders on this street and other parts of town are very wary that we will lose our regular holiday trade and whether they will come back the following year. Like most people, I am optimistic it's going to be a good thing, but I don't think we will really know until it happens, will we?" he said.
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