MORE than 300 young Optimist sailors will be competing in Weymouth Bay for a second time this year.

They will be racing their single-handed dinghies in the Volvo Musto Optimist End of Season Championships this weekend.

The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, the 2012 Olympic venue, hosted the largest ever Volvo Musto Optimist National Championships last July and the success led to hundreds of competitors signing up for a second go.

The Championships will also be attended by Olympic-class Laser sailor Paul Goodison, of Wyke Regis, who has been recently been recommend by the RYA to the British Olympic Association to compete at the Beijing 2008 Games.

Goodison will be on hand to present prizes on Sunday afternoon and give a talk about his Olympic experience and encourage others in their racing careers.

The UK competitors will be welcoming foreign sailors from five other nations including Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands, as well as a strong contingent of 17 sailors from France.

The Championships will see racing in a main fleet, which combines sailors of all ages together, and a regatta fleet for sailors who are learning to race.

The main fleet has 261 entries, while the surprise attendance has been in the regatta fleet. The fleet originally had only space for 50 places, but due to demand from sailors, the Optimist Class Association has had to increase the number of entries to 77.

This has meant sailing clubs and parents have had to join forces to provide more coaches and safety boats for the developing fleet.

Names to watch out for from the Junior fleet, who will be racing against their older counterparts in this event are; Scott Wallis, David Pain, James Parker-Mowbray and Josh Sparks.

While the top three sailors from the Regatta fleet have moved to the Main Fleet, allowing the more inexperienced racers a chance to be seen on the podium this regatta.

This year is the diamond anniversary for the 2.3-metre Optimist, which has proven itself to be an excellent starter boat for children learning to race.

It has helped groom some of the UK's great sailing names, including double Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie, and Olympic silver medallist Nick Rogers.