Weymouth trio get the nod for Beijing

8:49am Friday 4th April 2008

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THREE more Weymouth sailors are celebrating today after being officially selected by the British Olympic Association to compete at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Windsurfers Nick Dempsey and Bryony Shaw and women's 470 crew member Saskia Clark, will be on the plane to China this summer after the BOA officially ratified their nominations put forward by the Royal Yachting Association selectors.

The trio's official selection means no fewer than six sailors from Dorset will make up the 18-strong British sailing team that will do battle at the Olympic Regatta on the infamously light wind waters of Qingdao.

Official selection gives Dempsey the chance to emulate the Olympic bronze medal he won at the Athens Games in 2004 and having triumphed in style at the recent Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma, the 27-year-old sailor is in confident mood.

He said: "Palma was a very important event for me, it was one we had targeted all year and I think my performance there shows that the training we have been doing has been working and I am very optimistic and positive about Qingdao.

"I'll be spending the next month light wind training in Spain where the choppy seas and light sea breezes will be pretty similar to China before we head to the Europeans, which will be my last regatta before the Olympics."

Shaw, 24, makes her Olympic debut in Qingdao with the knowledge that she was the last female windsurfer to triumph on the Olympic track having won an awesome Olympic Test Event gold last August.

She said: "Qingdao is such a unique venue, especially for windsurfers in terms of technique and tactics that any results you get in the build up are good indicators of form but it is performance at the venue that counts and in that respect the Olympic Test Event was a major milestone for me. My opponents know that as well."

Clark, who won 2007 World Championship 470 bronze with helm Christina Bassadone, is another Olympic debutant and she is confident she is in good hands going into the event.

She said: "Every-one says the Olym-pics are a very different regatta and you don't appreciate it until you've done one but Christina competed at Athens and there are many other members of the team who have competed at past Games so I've been able to get an invaluable insight into what it's likely to be like."

Nine sailors, including Weymouth's double World and defending Olympic Yngling champion Sarah Ayton, Laser star Paul Goodison, and Star crew Andrew Simpson from Sherborne, officially had their nominations ratified in January while the other sailors named are Penny Clark (Laser Radial), Nick Rogers-Joe Glanfield (470 Men) and Leigh McMillan-Will Howden.