PARALYMPIAN Megan Pascoe gave Weymouth race club members the unique opportunity to get to grips with her high-performance craft.

The Portland-based rising star, who is a familiar face at the local race nights in the borough, invited Weymouth Sailing Club and Castle Cove Sailing Club members over to the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy to try out the single-person 2.4-metre keelboat.

Weymouth Sailing Club spokesman Steve Dadd said: “Skandia team GBR’s Megan Pascoe took time out of her busy training schedule to literally show everyone the ropes before members were let loose to sail around the marina on their own.

“Commodore Mark Bugler, who stands at over six-foot, managed to squeeze into the boat in which you lay back in to sail.

“All the controls are inside the cockpit and controls for the rudder are available for either feet or hand control.

“The 2.4m is one of the class of boats used for the Paralympic games although when originally designed in 1906 it was a boat designer’s idea to build a copy of the big 12-metre yachts of the day for which he and friends could match race together.”

Megan, aged 24, of Fortuneswell, recently won the Frensham 2.4 open meeting for the seventh consecutive year and is currently competing in Medemblik, Holland at the Delta Lloyd regatta.

She said: “I had a good giggle when some of the guys from Weymouth SC and Castle Cove SC came 2.4 sailing.

“The guys at both sailing clubs have been really fantastic to me and given me sails in their boats so it is great to give them a sail in my boat in return.”

In other Weymouth Sailing Club news, members welcomed the commander and officers of the visiting Belgian navy ketch ‘Zenobe Gramme’ to their Nothe Parade clubhouse last Saturday evening.

Weighing 136 tonnes, built entirely of wood and having a sail area of over 300 square-metres, it is a different world to the lightweight fibreglass dinghies that presently pack the club yard as the club are currently hosting almost the entire French Olympic team.

After the visit, the Belgians reciprocated and a number of the French team, along with Weymouth club members, visited the 50-year-old vessel to enjoy a guided tour and sample the delights of Belgian beer.

To find out more about Pascoe’s preparations for the Olympics check out her blog at dorsetecho.co.uk/sport/afloat/afloatblogs/megan_pascoe/