PORTLAND’S Megan Pascoe will be swapping her 2.4metre single-handed keelboat for a Royal Yacht Squadron pilot cutter when she takes on Friday's Round the Island Race.

Fresh from winning gold at the Delta Lloyd Olympic and Paralympic classes regatta in Holland, Pascoe is among a contingent of Weymouth sailors who will be racing the 50 nautical miles around the Isle of Wight.

Around 16,000 sailors and more than 1,700 boats are expected to compete at the historic event, which was first sailed in 1931.

Pascoe, aged 26, of Fortuneswell, said: “Like quite a lot of people in Weymouth I am off to Round the Island this weekend.

“I am racing on a Royal Yacht Squadron pilot cutter called Thalia, owned by David Aisher.”

She added: “Sail for Gold is my next Paralympic classes event. It is going to be a small event but we should have the same top three battling it out that we had at Delta Lloyd.”

The Sail for Gold 2013 regatta is being held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) from June 9 to 13 and more than 200 athletes from 23 different nations will do battle across eight Olympic and three Paralympic classes.

Borough residents and sailing enthusiasts in general are invited to visit the Osprey Quay venue throughout the five days to watch live video from the race courses and GPS boat tracking on big screens.

It is a chance to rub shoulders with some of London 2012’s successful sailors, including Weymouth and Portland’s very own silver medallists Stuart Bithell and Nick Dempsey and Paralympic gold medallist Helena Lucas.

Sail for Gold was dropped from the ISAF World Cup circuit last year but is now run by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and WPNSA as part of the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup.

It is the only international multi-class Olympic and Paralympic event in the UK.

Racing will take place daily in Portland Harbour from 11am.

Highlights will include a Finals Day and medal ceremony on Thursday, June 13, plus the chance to see the Nacra 17 and 49er FX classes racing competitively on British waters for the first time since being named as the two new Olympic classes for Rio 2016.

Follow Friday's race action at www.roundtheisland.org.uk. For Sail for Gold visit www.sailforgold.co.uk