Sailing Events and Training

Annually the Academy hosts local, national, European and World dinghy and windsurfing events. The venue is capable of hosting more than 1,000 competitors at a time racing across a number of different disciplines.

The 2011 season was another active and successful one for the Academy, kicking off with UK Windsurfing Association’s National Championships at the end of March. Over this same weekend the waters of Weymouth and Portland were crowded with the much loved Sigma 38 yacht racing class, as crews of nine competed for their national title.

The J109 yacht racing fraternity, now renowned internationally for big fleet racing, then headed to the Academy for their annual National Championship Event at the end of May. The Academy is fast becoming the international yacht racing destination of choice due to the re-developed marina facility and deep water race course in easy access of Portland Harbour out to Weymouth Bay. The new development works include a mini marina with a total capacity for 125 boats.

In June, Sail for Gold returned to the 2012 sailing venue with 62 nations being represented. This was the 6th leg of the International Sailing Federation World Cup and was the largest event ever held at the Academy The award-winning disabled facilities at the Academy were put to excellent use when the International Federation for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) held their World Cup with us at the start of July. This is the most prestigious annual event in the disabled sailing calendar and perfect preparation for WPNSA being part of the venue for the Paralympic Games in 2012.

July also saw the Contender World Championships. Dubbed as the world’s most popular single-handed trapeze sailing dinghy, this class is steeped in history and routinely generates a following of hundreds.

Britain won six medals in the ten events held at the test event at the beginning of August, the perfect tonic ahead of the real thing when the Olympics comes to Weymouth and Portland in July 2012.

The serious racing continued in the latter half of August with the RS Games. 525 boats and 879 competitors made the RS Games one of the biggest dinghy racing events of the 2011 calendar and a huge festival of all that’s good about dinghy racing. The regatta included nine of the RS classes competing for their UK National Championships and the RS500 for their world title as well. Records fell with the RS200 producing the biggest Nationals for a two-man boat this century.

September was no less memorable with the Laser National Championships followed by the International 14 World Championships. Incredibly, this skiffstyle of boat dates back to the late 1800s but is constantly re-vamped to thrill the latest racing generation.

The highlight of this (or any other) year for the WPNSA is obviously being part of the venue for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

But there is a whole host of other events taking place (see the events calendar later in this brochure) and we will also be the start and finish point of Round Britain 2012 in June. Dubbed Britain’s biggest multi-faceted land, sea and air event - RB12 is predicted to involve 75 powerboats, 100 super and vintage cars, as well as 50 aircraft with more than 1,000 contestants and 1,500 supporting crew.

The Sailing Academy is a very popular base for training and coaching at all levels. Fully-equipped lecture rooms, safety ribs and marks are available for hire, supported by excellent catering facilities. The British Olympic Sailing Team regularly train at WPNSA, and many have become members intending to make it the base for the majority of their sailing programme.

The Artemis Offshore Academy uses the world-class facilities at the WPNSA as one of the venues for the UK excellence training programme. The Academy will be working closely with the Artemis Offshore Academy supporting a UK training programme of excellence for British short-handed sailors, providing a structure to bring talented sailors up through the ranks. The centre has also taken the step of inviting foreign Olympic teams to train at the site and contracts have been signed with several teams including Italy, USA, Canada and Australia.

For event bookings and training please contact reception@wpnsa.org.uk or telephone 01305 866000.

19/2/2013 15:35