Weymouth is very much open for business during the Olympic period and throughout the entire summer of 2012. That’s the message that Peter Mole, Harbour Master of Weymouth Harbour, is keen to get out there.

Peter and his team have been working hard with Portland Harbour Authority for the last two years to ensure that operations within the Olympic waters run like clockwork during the Games, as the area gets ready to host racing for 10 classes over a 14 day period for 380 Olympic athletes. A further six days of racing is scheduled in September, when 80 Paralympians are due to compete in three classes.

Having been granted a Harbour Revision Order, Peter and his team have secured the legal go-ahead required to to take control of the waters for the 67 days of the Games period. The application for the HRO, made in tandem with one for Portland Harbour, involved a lengthy consultation process with local water users, both leisure and commercial.

It is thanks to this process that the operations procedures during the Games period will enable the harbour to continue to operate with the minimal disruption possible.

Peter explains: “Visiting yachts are welcome to stay in Weymouth Harbour during the Games period, providing they have a berth booked in advance. Yachts resident in Weymouth Harbour will also be able to come and go as they please, providing they adhere to the course exclusion areas set up around the race courses. Boats entering and leaving the harbour will be guided by a traffic control system, needed to segregate vessels actually taking part in the Games, with additional instructions via VHF; stickers will be issued to identify visitors and residents.

“We will be working with Portland Harbour Authority, LOCOG and Dorset Police to handle these operations, together with harbour personnel from nearby Bridport and Lyme Regis harbours assisting us. To ensure smooth operations, either myself or the deputy harbour master will be based on site 24-7 during the Olympics. We will be in constant contact with Portland Harbour, where the Olympic sailors and support boats will be based. We will also be liaising with the command centre in town where the emergency services and local authorities will be operating from; as well as with the warship anchored offshore which will be jointly responsible for security.”

Single-handed, single-minded and going for gold.

Paul Goodison is the current Olympic Champion in the Laser class, having topped the podium with a gold medal in Beijing at the 2008 Games. Add to that a long list of World, European and National championship wins, and there’s no doubting that he has a huge depth of sailing talent.

Paul first caught the sailing bug when he trained with Ben Ainslie in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He got his own shot at Olympic glory in 2004 in Athens, but fell painfully short of the podium finishing in fourth place. Since then, his steely resolve has set in and he hasn’t looked back.

With selection for 2012 well and truly in hand, Paul has only one thing on his mind: getting the gold. Literally. When the medal race at the World Championships in December 2011 saw him slip to finish in fifth overall, he put it down to having had other things on his mind (the Games) and instead focussed on the positives he had taken away from training for the event.

That’s a pretty tough attitude to take. But let’s face it, going for Olympic gold in the Laser takes a phenomenally tough sailor. Not only is it the most well-known Olympic sailboat of all, but as a single-handed class requires an unwavering determination and personal perseverance.

Since the Worlds, Paul has bounced back to win gold at the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, and has been training hard, particularly on his physical fitness – yet another element that is essential for success in this demanding class.

When he lines his Laser up on the Olympic start line this summer, it’s not going to be an easy ride; but having sailed to gold four years ago, we know Paul has what it takes.

We meet the British Olympic match racing team and find out what it’s all about.

Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Kate Macgregor, aka the GBR Match Race Girls, earned their selection to Team GB in November 2011. They are currently ranked second in the ISAF Women’s World Match Racing rankings, behind USA’s Anna Tunnicliffe.

At the ISAF World Championships in December 2011, the British team added a well-deserved silver medal to their lengthy list of international match racing successes, which includes the 2010 Women’s Match Racing World Championships. In the final match, the girls faced tough competition from their American rival who walked away with the gold medal.

But with a full on training programme in place between now and August and the support of the home crowd behind them, this tactical trio are confident of a putting in a good performance on home waters at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Lucy and Annie have been sailing together since 2005 when they began campaigning for the 2008 Olympics in the three-person Yngling class. After narrowly missing out on selection for the team in 2007 the girls focused their attention on other competitive sailing for a year before the decision to replace the Yngling with match racing for 2012 was made. In 2010 Lucy’s younger sister Kate joined the team, a role which she has slotted into brilliantly and has proven to be a great success.