SAILORS from Weymouth and Portland are set to join thousands across the globe for one of the World’s largest annual sailing events, Bart’s Bash.

The event, which is in its third year, will take place over the weekend of September 17-18.

The record breaking sailing race will begin at 1pm on Saturday, September 17, inside Portland Harbour.

It will be hosted by the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) and will combine participants from Weymouth Sailing Club, Castle Cove Sailing Club, Chesil Sailability, Osprey Training Centre and the Andrew Simpson Sailing Centre.

Members of the British Sailing Team including Olympic medallists Hannah Mills, Saskia Clark and Nick Dempsey will join in the action on the water.

The event manager, Tim Anderton of the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation said: “We hope to see at least 120 boats on the start line – some will launch from WPNSA, while others will join us on the water from their own clubs.

“Following the race, there will be barbecues and lots of sailing activities for children back at the Academy and the chance to meet a whole host of sailing personalities.”

The day will conclude with an informal dinner at the WPNSA with live music, guest speakers and a question and answer session and charity raffle.

The dinner will be open to anyone with an interest in boating, with tickets costing £18 for adults and £14 for children.

All the money raised will go to a local school sailing project, the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy which has 1000 pupils and aims to get every one of them sailing.

This year’s Bash will coincide with the end of the Rio 2016 Paralympic sailing event and hopes to raise funds and awareness for disabled sailing around the World.

Multiple Olympic medallist and ASSF Founding Trustee, Sir Ben Ainslie, said: “We as a Foundation are delighted to see Bart’s Bash continue to grow as an event and we’re all looking forward to getting on the water to have some fun in Bart’s name.”

For more information or to book tickets, e-mail lindsay@andrewsimpsonsailing.org