MORE than 20 organisations have joined forces in Dorset to orchestrate the smooth running of the Sailing competition and associated events for the London 2012 Games.

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been described in organisation and resource terms as ‘the largest single project undertaken in the UK for over 70 years’.

A series of working groups in the county, collectively known as the Weymouth and Portland 2012 Operations Group, have the responsibilities of transport, visitors, culture, health and safety, communications, safety and security and volunteering.

Key contacts for each of the groups will be bringing insight to their activities through a weekly column in the Dorset Echo.

Here’s Duncan Flint, Weymouth and Portland 2012 Communications Officer:

THIS week has been a busy one in preparation for the sailing events coming to Weymouth and Portland in 2012.

The International Regatta, hosted at the National Sailing Academy, was a huge success from a logistics perspective and proved very useful in helping to raise the profile of the area on the national and international stage.

Around 270 journalists and photographers from across the globe, including TV crews from Italy and Switzerland, covered not only the sporting aspects but also looked at what the area has to offer from a tourist perspective.

It was also interesting to see the media centre in operation as we are planning to establish our facility in Weymouth so that we can cater for the needs of non-accredited media with the aim of securing the best possible coverage for our area regionally, nationally and internationally.

Of course, yesterday saw thousands of visitors come to the Weymouth Carnival and Air Show, and this key event in the Weymouth calendar presented us with the opportunity to put some other things to the test ahead of next year.

Some of the prospective volunteers who signed up for the Weymouth and Portland Ambassador (WPA) programme were employed at the carnival and various aspects of how we will use the volunteers in and around the town in 2012 were usefully put to the test.

The carnival also had some special guests from London 2012 in the form of the Olympic and Paralympic Mascots Wenlock and Mandeville who spent time mingling with the crowds and handing out London 2012 badges As often the way with test exercises, these are sometimes done ‘behind the scenes’ so as not to intrude too much.

This year the regatta and the carnival provided us with some valuable lessons which we can apply with the aim of making the London 2012 Sailing events a great success not only for our athletes, residents and businesses but also for the thousands of new visitors who we hope will leave with very fond memories encouraging them to return over and over again.