PORTLAND sailor Simon Hiscocks hopes the Dorset community will turn out in force to show their support at the Skan-dia Sail for Gold Regatta on Saturday.

The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy comes to the end of a busy summer, hosting the event as part of the ISAF World Cup for the first time.

And with the medals races and free spectator day on Saturday, the double Olympic medallist hopes Olympic fever will catch on in Weymouth.

He said: “Hopefully there will be a good turnout; quite a lot of people from the local area will come, as well as people from the sailing community, youngsters want to see world class sailing.

“It’s not everyday that you have a world class sailing event down here, although of course there will be more events like this down here in the next few years.”

Hiscocks and partner David Evans were the best of the Brits in the 49er class on the opening day of the regatta, finishing third ahead of Olympians Ben Rhodes and Stevie Morrison.

They still hold that position despite the strong winds yesterday that delayed the start of the skiff race.

Hiscocks added: “It can be a bit frustrating waiting around for the racing to start, but it hasn’t been too bad, it’s one of the things you get used to.

“Often you end up sitting around waiting. At least sailing here at home there are plenty of people around to talk to.”

After returning from the 49ers World Championships in Riva del Garda Italy, where they finished 11th, Hiscocks and Evans have targeted a top-ten finish.

He said: “David and I would be quite happy to finish in the top ten. We’ve had a really good start so maybe we should be setting our sights higher, but we’ve had a tough season and we were disappointed to finish 11th at the Worlds, just missing out on a top ten spot.”

Meanwhile, Sherborne’s Andrew Simpson and Iain Percy continue to set the pace in the Star fleet and in the women’s windsurfing, Weymouth’s Bryony Shaw climbed to second behind Spain’s Blanca Manchon after two days of racing.

Fresh from her sixth place in the RS:X World Championships in Weymouth last week, the Olympic bronze medallist finished seventh and second in her two races.

Olympic gold medallist Pippa Wilson enjoyed a strong second day with her partner Saskia Clark in the Women’s 470 class.

Weymouth’s Wilson, and Clark, of Wyke Regis consolidated a solid first day with third and seventh-place finishes to remain third overall.

Alexandra Rickham, from Weymouth, did not sail in the Skud-18 as the Paralympic classes were cancelled due to the windy conditions.