OLYMPIC sailing contenders Annie Lush, Lucy and Kate Macgre-gor soared to new heights above the waves to get a taste of Wey-mouth’s new attraction.

The Dorset trio, who make up the British team for the new Olympic Match Racing event, were special guests at the official groundbreaking for the new Weymouth Tower yesterday.

They were hoisted by a crane nearly 40m skywards for a taste of the ‘spectacular’ views that will be available to tower visitors from July.

The £3.5million attraction on the corner of Weymouth Pier, alongside the ferry terminal, will overlook the Olympic Festival Village and provide a bird’s eye view of the event course where the three women from Poole will be vying for medals in the Elliot 6m event this summer.

The tower, operated by Wey-mouth Sea Life Park owners Merlin Entertainments, will be 53 metres high and, on a clear day, will offer views far beyond Weymouth Bay and Portland, along the Jurassic coast.

The 70-person capacity obser-vation pod will revolve a full 360-degrees during its ascent and descent, which is expected to last around 10 minutes.

Merlin Entertainment bosses have pledged that it will cost ‘significantly under £10 per person’.

Tower and Sea Life boss Craig Dunkerley said: “Work is already underway and so far we’re ahead of schedule.

“This is a preview of the sort of views we hope our visitors can get this summer, we’ll certainly have it open before the Olympic sailing starts on July 29.

“The view was absolutely spectacular, I’m afraid of heights but I had to see what it was like. We were about 15m short of what it will be and it was still breathtaking, even on a grey blustery day.

“We could see way over Weymouth Bay and the hills beyond and over to the back of Portland.”

He added: “It was fantastic the Match Race Girls could come down and get a view of the courses they’re going to be racing on for the Olympic Games.

“We wish them the best of luck.”

Annie, Kate and Lucy, have just returned from Perth, Australia where they claimed silver and narrowly lost their ‘world champions’ crown to the American team Annie said: “It was an epic regatta in Perth, the longest ever regatta, we sailed 43 races over 12 days.

“It’s scary but also exciting that 2012 is now here, I feel ready to get on with it now.”

The event at the construction site was followed by an informal reception at the Prince Regent Hotel on The Esplanade.

Borough Mayor Graham Winter said: “It’s been a privilege to come along and be involved and get a taste of what it’s going to be like.

“It’s very exciting.”