First London 2012 Venue Completed
The first sporting venue for the London 2012 Olympics has been completed with the end of construction at the Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy.
The £15m complex, which will also host the Paralympics events, was brought in under budget and ahead of schedule.
The world-class facility will play host to 400 athletes completing in 10 Olympic sailing categories.
The early completion of the venue will give Britain’s competitors a chance to train ‘well ahead of 2012’, said Lord Coe, chairman of the organising committee LOCOG.
A 656ft (200m) breakwater protects the new facilities with a new pier offering two yacht-lifting cranes and a pontoon providing 70 berths for race boats.
The start of construction, using 70,000 tonnes of Portland stone, was delayed to avoid disrupting the nesting season of over-wintering birds around the local coastline.
