A NEW webcam at the 2012 Olympic Sailing venue is making waves with the watersports community.

Live streaming, high-quality moving images providing 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is fast becoming an addiction for sailors, kitesurfers, windsurfers and spectators.

The free service offers a birds-eye view of all the action at the world-class sailing venue and conditions in Portland Harbour.

It is the brainchild of Dorset sailing and windsurfing instructor Steve Dean, who previously launched In the Elements webcams at Poole Harbour, Hayling Island and the Solent.

Mr Dean, 30, said it took six months to obtain permission to site the camera at the 2012 sailing venue and he is delighted to have it up and running in time for Skandia Sail for Gold.

He said: “It’s only been up a few weeks and its massively growing in popularity.

“Not only has Weymouth and Portland got the Olympic Games coming up but there are tons of really big events all year that will continue after the Games as well.”

Mr Dean’s webcams are completely free to view and the live footage has just a two-second delay.

Last year the website was getting 3,000 views a month, now it is just short of 30,000 a month.

Keen snappers who want to get their action photographs on the website can email steve@intheelements.com

View the webcam online via dorsetecho.co.uk/olympics/links/