WEYMOUTH and Portland’s Olympic waters will once again host top elite racing talent this year.
The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) is once again gearing up for another busy year of action out on the water, including the second Bart’s Bash.

 

The venue will be one of the top international hosts for the prestigious International Sailing Federation, Sailing World Cup, which returns to Dorset this year, dubbed the ‘road to the Olympics’ the contest will hit the waters between June 8-14.

Chief Executive at WPNSA, Peter Allam, said it was an extremely important event to host. He said: “It is part of a five event global series, staging racing in Melbourne, Miami, Hyeres, Weymouth and Portland as well as Qingdao.
“This will be the highest profile event to be held at WPNSA for 2015. With 678 sailors having competed recently in Miami, the ISAF Sailing World Cup will pull the elite athletes back to UK shores.”

The Royal Yachting Association’s Youth National Championships, one of the most important annual events in a youth sailor’s racing calendar, heads back to the sailing academy for the second consecutive year with racing from April 4-10.

John Derbyshire, RYA Racing Manager said: “The RYA has a long-standing relationship with WPNSA, which has played host to a number of its flagship regattas over the years and provides great inspiration and legacy for the sailing community as the home of the London 2012 sailing competitions.”

He added: “As well as Weymouth and Portland providing the performance training base for the British Sailing Team, this year will see WPNSA welcome back elite level World Cup sailing for the Olympic and Paralympic Classes as part of the revamped ISAF world tour, with WPNSA also hosting the RYA Youth National Championships – the pinnacle event in the UK Youth Racing calendar. We’re looking forward to some spectacular racing in world class surroundings.”
August will be another big month for youth sailing with the Topper National Championship running from August 1-7 and the RS Tera fleet will host their National Championship on the waters from August 28-31.

Ian Jameson, Chairman, RS Tera Class Association, said: “Not only is the WPNSA world class with all the facilities you could ever need to run a major championship, the staff and volunteers really make it a very special place. The other selling point of the venue is the availability of sailing water ideal for running junior class events where sailors’ safety is the primary consideration.”

Then the hugely popular Bart’s Bash will return for its second year on September 20. The global sailing event, held in memory of Olympic medal-winner Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson, smashed records last year when 30,700 people across the world took part in the event.
For more information visit www.wpnsa.org.uk