TEAM GB sailors will be taking to the stage at the Weymouth Beach Live Site for the 2012 Opening Ceremony night.

A dozen members of the British Sailing Team will kick-start their home Olympic Games in front of some 12,000 fans to mark the London 2012 Opening Ceremony on Friday evening.

The contingent will include triple Olympic gold medallist sailor Ben Ainslie – and sailing team manager Stephen Park.

They will take to the stage, between 7.50pm and 8.10pm, just before the main Opening Ceremony show is broadcast around the world and on large screens at the Live Site.

BBC Sport’s Rob Walker, who will report on the sailors’ progress from Weymouth and Portland , will welcome and introduce the team on stage, and get the lowdown on life in the British camp with just two days to go before the start of racing.

Just four sailors from the 16-strong squad – the two 470 crews of Weymouth’s Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark and Portland’s Luke Patience -Stuart Bithell – will participate in the main Opening Ceremony in London.

Mr Park, who is known by the team as Sparky, said: “With most of the sailors unable to travel to London for the main Opening Ceremony due to training and racing schedules, we really wanted to the celebrate the start of the Games with our supporters in Weymouth and Portland, which has been home to our team for a number of years now.

“Having a home Olympic Games is a truly unique experience and one which I hope, with the help of some Great British performances, will help excite and unite the whole country. “We can already feel the excitement building here in Weymouth and Portland, and I know we can rely on some fantastic local support for Team GB’s sailors, who will be doing all they can to put in performances that they and we will all be proud of.”

Mayor of Weymouth and Portland Councillor Margaret Leicester said: “We are absolutely delighted that some members of the British sailing team will be centre stage at the Opening Ceremony celebrations on the Weymouth Beach Live Site. Sailing is one of Team GB’s most successful Olympic sports and not only do the 2012 team train on the waters of Weymouth and Portland, quite a few of them have actually been living right here as part of our community for a number of years.

“The Opening Ceremony will therefore be a tremendous opportunity for us all to show just how proud we are of our local heroes, and to kickstart all of the exciting events going on here during the Games.

“This includes the Live Site at Weymouth Beach, which throughout the Games, will show all of the sailing events and other Olympic sporting competitions, and act as a focal point for the region’s cultural events, as part of the Maritime Mix – the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad by the Sea.”

The Weymouth Beach Live Site is a free-to-access venue but has capacity numbers so early arrival is recommended.

Check out the new ‘Home of the British Sailing Team’ website www.rya.org.uk/London2012

 

Duchess set to watch races from luxury yacht

THE Duchess of Cambridge will visit Weymouth and Portland to watch the sailing Olympics , it has been confirmed.

The duchess a Team GB Ambassador, will spend the day in the borough to watch medal races on Monday, August 6.

She will meet sailors and view facilities at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy .

It is expected that the duchess will watch the sailing from a Beneteau luxury motor yacht, the official supplier to the London 2012 Games.

The firm is providing the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games with 23 motor boats worth £3.6million for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Two 52ft and several 44ft luxury motor yachts will be used for VIPs and a fleet of smaller vessels will accommodate referees, journalists and race organisers.

The day of the duchess’s visit will see medal races for the Laser and Laser Radial dinghy classes in which Weymouth’s defending champion Paul Goodison and Portland contender Ali Young will be going for gold.