2012 Games brings Queen to Dorset

9:59 PM Fri 12 Jun 2009 GMT

'(4) WPNSA CEO John Tweed with Her Majesty the Queen and WPNSA Chair Edward Leask (c) Geoff Moore 09' . Click Here to view large photo

The excitement was palpable at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in Dorset on the southern coast of Britain this week.

The reason for the gathering crowds was the fact that Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, and the usual accompaniment of ladies-in-waiting etc., visited the facility on June 11th.

The Academy is the first venue to be completed for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the Royal Party some Olympic hopefuls in training, as well as local people who are learning to sail as part of WPNSA's programme with the Chesil Trust.

This program offers subsidised Royal Yachting Association sailing courses many of which are run in conjunction with SailLaser for children and young people who are disabled or at a social disadvantage.

SailLaser - introducing kids to sailing - .. .

The scheme is just one of the WPNSA's and SailLaser's many community involvement initiatives including the opportunity for individuals to 'Sail for ?5',or for family groups of up to four people to have a sail for ?10 and which will be available to the public again on July 11th as part of the 'Spirit of the Sea' Festival.

John Tweed, Chief Executive of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, was beaming during the visit, and said: 'It is an enormous honour for the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy that both Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh have seen firsthand the completed Olympic Delivery Authority works and the Chesil Trust 'Sail for a Fiver' programme.

'We have given The Royal Party a real flavour of how important this facility is for the whole community, not just the competitive sailors'.

Good publicity too!

by Blackwattle Studios