A Sailing coach who was banned from operating at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy has bounced back and secured a job training a top Chinese sailor.

Former Laser Radial dinghy world champion Jon Emmett, of Weymouth, became the subject of a coastguard rescue in May when his group of world-class sailors fell into difficulties while out training.

Emmett and four other experienced sailors drifted off towards the dangerous stretch of water off Portland known as The Race and were rescued by a local fishing boat crew and the Weymouth inshore lifeboat as they did not have a radio or safety boat with them.

The sailing academy suspended Emmett from operating out of the 2012 site, pending a full review of the incident, which led to him being banned.

Business manager Chris Knight said Emmett was no longer allowed to be on the site, except during events such as last week’s Skandia Sail for Gold.

He added that the Chinese team did not have an annual agreement with the academy so they could not train from there either, and instead trained from a borough sailing club.

Emmett, 33, of Holly Road, said the ‘unfortunate incident’ had led him to buy a little radio that never leaves his side.

He said: “Anyone who knows me knows I’m attached to my mobile phone but it’s one of those things – this one time I didn’t have it with me. I’ve sailed out of the bay almost 20 years and never got stuck outside before.”

Emmett is delighted to have been selected to coach Lijia Xu from China for this summer’s Olympic test event.

He added: “Lijia, who won the Radial World Championship in 2007 and was bronze medallist in the 2008 Olympics in her home country of China, is coming back from injury and is sure to be one of the medal favourites for the 2012 Olympics.

“She got in touch with me after first reading my book Be Your Own Sailing Coach.

“We were initially meant to work together in 2010 but injury meant Lijia had to pull out of the World Championships and Sail for Gold. She is now back in action and sailing well.”

Emmett has already begun working with Lijia, who finished 15th and was the top Chinese boat in the Laser Radial fleet at Sail for Gold.

Her next big event is the Women’s European Championships in Finland from July 1, while Emmett intends to race in the Men’s World Championships in La Rochelle from July 16.

The pair will then return to the borough for final preparations for the Olympic test event, which begins on July 30.