Sail for Gold Ball

THE RYA Sail for Gold Ball will be taking place tomorrow night in support of Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic sailors in their quest for medals at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Held in every Olympic year only, the ball has a justifiable reputation as the most significant social event in the Olympic and Paralympic classes sailing calendar.

The rousing send-off at the Hilton Hotel in London will include the sailors selected to compete for Team GB and Paralympics GB in Weymouth and Portland, Princess Anne, president of the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), plus Britain’s sailing medallists and guests from the worlds of commerce, politics, the arts and the media.

Weymouth’s Olympic windsurfer Bryony Shaw, who wowed the crowd with a dress made out of a sail at the BT British Ball last October is promising another impressive creation, while Portland Paralympian Hannah Stodel will be wearing a Union Jack-inspired ball gown.

Find out more at http://www.rya.org.uk/programmes/sailforgold/ball.

Get your Torch relay party tickets

TODAY free tickets for the borough’s Olympic Torch Relay evening celebration on Weymouth Beach become available.

Rapper Wretch 32, Britain’s Got Talent dance duo Twist and Pulse and an acrobatic display will be among the entertainment taking place to celebrate the Olympic flame’s arrival in Dorset on Thursday, July 12.

The event, which includes a mass drumming spectacular involving local children, the bands Weapons of Sound, Magic Drum Orchestra and B-Sharp plus the audience, will begin at 5pm and end with a firework display at 9.30pm.

Wristbands will be issued to 12,500 people who apply in advance online at dorsetforyou.com/2012torchtickets from 7am today.

Those successful will be asked to collect them from one of six TICs before 4pm on June 29.

400 volunteers

FOUR hundred volunteers will be flocking to Weymouth Pavilion today for their first day of training ahead of the Olympic sailing events.

The selected Weymouth and Portland Ambassadors will be undergoing their first batch of orientation training between 6.30pm and 9.30pm.

During this summer’s big event ambassadors will steward, marshal, give information and offer advice to visitors at key locations within Weymouth and Portland, including the 2012 Live Site on Weymouth beach.

In total there are 500 recruits and more than 80 of the ambassadors will be able to give information to visitors in a second or third language, including Japanese, German, Norwegian and British Sign Language.

Find out more about the scheme online by visiting website dorsetforyou.com /sailing2012/wpa.