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The Olympic test regatta is currently underway, in the chilly waters of Portland and Weymouth. It is just 12 months from the London 2012 Olympics, and more than 400 sailors are competing for the chance at Olympic victory. 440 sailors from 66 different nations, all hoping for the chance to return to Weymouth in a year’s time.

“This is really a true trial of what it’s going to be like in the summer of 2012, and to that end it will be very exciting from a competitive perspective,” explained Stephen Park, who is the Royal Yachting Association Olympic manager.

“There will be a lot of learning opportunities from both Skandia Team Britain’s perspective and from the organizational side. But it also means that the fleet sizes are smaller, and the total number of sailors is smaller,” adds Park. 16 sailors were chosen during the June Skandia Sail for Gold World Cup Regatta, to come and compete for a chance to be a part of Olympic history. “We’ve got just over 400 sailors here at this event, by comparison to the 1,000 plus who were here for Skandia Sail for Gold, but still the same number of nations, still the same number of classes.”

The competition will not only test the competitor’s, but it will also make sure all the equipment is in good condition. All the sailing boats are equipped with GPS tracking devices. Judges will be monitoring the GPS tracking devices, in order to track the speed and distance of the boats, as well as the accuracy of the data. Big Omega clocks are attached to the boats, along with the GPS tracking equipment, in order to collect the most accurate data.

The sailors course is closer to the shore than ever before, adding some challenge for the sailors, but much more entertainment for the spectators. “There’s quite a lot of pressure on the sport to provide a show for all the spectators to see every day, come 2012, and the result of that is there’s going to be far more racing close to the shore than traditionally we would see here in Weymouth or indeed at any other previous Olympic Games. We’re quite excited by these opportunities and it should make for great racing,” adds Stephen Park.

“We’re looking forward to it a lot – we’ve been training quite hard for this and it’s going to be really good,” said Lucy Macgregor, a female competitor. “It’s a year to go, it’s the test event, it’s all pretty exciting and it’s all starting to come together and starting to feel very real. It’s scary to think there’s a year to go definitely – or under a year now – but it’s also really exciting and it does motivate you that bit more to get out of bed and make a difference each day to your campaign.”

Article Written by Marisa O’Connor