LEGENDS of Sailing were kept waiting on the first day of racing action at the Skandia Sail For Gold regatta.

Many of the events were postponed yesterday until winds picked up in the afternoon and the site of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy bustled with anticipation.

More than 700 boats and almost 1,000 competitors from 57 countries are taking part in the fifth annual Sail for Gold, which is the fifth and final instalment of this year’s International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup regatta.

Double Olympic medallist Simon Hiscocks of Fortuneswell, Portland has been tempted out of retirement to compete against the world’s best in the 49er high-performance dinghy class.

Hiscocks, 37, who claimed silver at Sydney and bronze in the Athens Games, has teamed up with up-and-coming sailor Ollie Spensley-Corfield, 20, of Portsmouth and is also hosting a stand for his shocksailing.com boat business at the site’s regatta village.

He said: “It’s really good to see the sailing academy look so busy. It’s almost full to capacity and the atmosphere definitely has an Olympic feel to it.

“All around Portland, sailors are living in different houses, it’s cool to be at home with all my sailing buddies.

“When the whole thing comes to your doorstep it’d be silly not to be part of the best competition in the world with the best sailors in the world.

“Ollie and I have only sailed together five times so we’re hoping to finish in the top 30 of the 60-boat 49er fleet.”

Among the elite of Olympic sailing to descend on the borough was Britain’s Ben Ainslie who has returned to compete in his Finn, two years after he secured his third Olympic gold in Beijing, and Brazil’s five-time Olympic medallist Torben Grael, who recently returned to the highly competitive Star class.

Grael, who secured bronze at the World Champion-ships in Rio earlier this year, and crewmate Marcelo Ferreira will line up alongside current World Champions and Beijing gold medallists Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson of Sherborne.

Other notable names include Weymouth’s double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Dempsey and 470 crew member Saskia Clark, Weymouth’s bronze medallist windsurfers Bryony Shaw and Nick Dempsey, and world and Olympic Laser champion Paul Goodison of Wyke Regis.

Find out more and download free Spectator Day event tickets from the website skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk