A superb day for a royal visit to the Olympic venue in Weymouth

Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, visited the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) on June 11.  As well as a throng of well wishers, including excited local school children, the royal couple were welcomed with clear blue skies. 

The Sailing Academy provides access to the best small boat sailing waters in the world and is the first venue to be completed for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Royal Party met Silver Medallist, Chris Draper and Olympic hopefuls in training, including Peter Greenhalgh, Andrea Brewster, Alison Young, Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes, as well as local people who are learning to sail as part of WPNSA’s programme with the Chesil Trust.  The Trust 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.

John Tweed, Chief Executive of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, 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 first-hand 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”.