(Marina and Matt) We had our first sight of the completed Olympic sailing facility last week when we headed down to the National Sailing Academy at Portland in Dorset for the AGM (plus barbeque!) for Superyacht UK, the superyacht sub-group of the BMF. It was a lovely evening and the site looked its best in the sunshine with lots of space and shiny new facilities. The hills to the north and west of the bay also make it a stunning setting for visitors and competitors alike. The new marina there that will be used by the competitors was build by one of our clients, Walcon Marine, and very nice it looked too.
Portland site from the National Sailing Academy
Gold medallist Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson gave a great talk on the preparations that he and his fellow UK contenders are making for next August and we were also briefed on all the organisational plans being made shoreside.
And a big hats-off to the local authorities for building a lovely dual-carriageway that abruptly narrows down to single lanes with lots of traffic lights well before you get anywhere near the Portland causeway! To be fair I guess it’s primarily to get spectators to the beaches on Weymouth Bay to the north east, but during the Olympic fortnight and the run-up before it looks like the only sensible way in and out of Portland will be by water, not land.
