THE COUNTDOWN to 2012 has stepped up another gear with an Olympic timeline that has been drawn up for local businesses.

The key dates and stepping stones between now and the global games have been put together by Dorset County Council's economic development officer Helen Heanes on behalf of the 2012 Business and Economy Group.

With less than five years to go until the opening ceremony there is work to be done and overseeing that will be Gary Fooks, who takes up the post of Dorset 2012 Legacy Manager at the end of October.

Weymouth and Portland is expected to be the first Olympic site completed, with construction work on the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy set to begin in late spring 2008.

The work will see the implementation of a new permanent 150m slipway, new race-boat moorings sheltered by a wave protection structure as well as race-boat parking and lifting facilities. The timeline also anticipates work to begin on the Weymouth Relief Road by early next year.

At the end of 2008 the Olympic transport package for Weymouth and Portland will be submitted to the Department for Transport, with work on the package beginning in 2009.

Between next year's games in Beijing and 2012 there will be a series of pre-games training camps established for potential competitors.

Event The Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy will host its first test event in the summer of 2010, where it will host around 540 boats and 800 competitors.

A second test event will take place the following summer, with around 270 boats and 400 competitors taking to the water.

Tickets for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will go on sale in 2011 and the big day of the opening ceremony will be July 27, 2012. The provisional timetable for the Olympic sailing events sees around 400 competitors bid for medals in 11 different classes between July 28 and August 11.

The Paralympic sailing events are due to take place between August 30 and September 5.

South West Director for the 2012 Games Guy Lavender said: "There is a lot of work to do but we are on track.

"The recent visit of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to look at look at London 2012's programmes were very impressed by what they saw in terms of planning for the games.

"There is lots of work going on around Dorset around the legacy and planning and I genuinely believe that we are on course. We are committed to maximising opportunities for businesses, sport and a whole range of different areas."