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Curtain comes down on fantastic Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta

The curtain has come down on the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta – the biggest Olympic and Paralympic classes regatta that Great Britain has seen.
 
The competition, which was the grand finale of the ISAF World Cup series, took place at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, the host venue for the sailing events at London 2012.
 
More then 1000 spectators watched the action at today’s (Saturday) medal racing day as the regatta reached its grand finale.
 
Event director David Campbell-James said: “We’ve had a very successful 2009 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta. It has been a complex event, bigger than any previously staged of its kind in the UK, with Olympic and Paralympic classes racing as part of the World Cup.  
 
“Although the weather dealt us a poor hand today, we have had some fantastic racing earlier in the week. More than a thousand spectators have enjoyed the atmosphere and seen British success on the water with the BBC carrying coverage live and online.”
 
Esther Nicholls, Major Events Consultant at UK Sport, said: “It’s been a brilliant event from our perspective as part of UK Sport’s World Class team. It’s given us an opportunity to assess our strengths and weaknesses.
 
“On the water the team have done incredibly well with nine medals and we couldn’t have hoped for much better than that at this stage in the cycle.  We’re looking forward to building on this as we move forward to Weymouth/London in 2012.”
 
Tim Sewell, Sponsorship Manager of Skandia, said: “The whole event has been absolutely fantastic. Clearly today it wasn’t quite as windy as we hoped but you have to take your hats off to the guys organising the event because on a day when it couldn’t have been more challenging for them, they still managed to get some racing in. That went well and the whole presentation side of it was very slick.  
 
“There was a great atmosphere even on the hardest day for the organisers so we’re delighted with that,” he added. “Let’s not forget the previous days earlier this week when there was just perfect sailing. All in all a big thumbs up from everyone.  
 
“From a Skandia point of view it’s been fantastic to be involved. The nice thing is that when we first got involved with the team through Skandia Team GBR they didn’t have a “home Games” as it were.  For us, we wanted to be able to help and support the team and to help create that “home Games”.  You try to work with the team and give them those psychological advantages.”

 
For further information contact:  Bryn Vaile in the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta press office on (07768) 902313 or visit www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk

About the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta      
• 2009 will be the fourth edition of the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, included in the inaugural 2008-09 ISAF Sailing World Cup series
• Event dates: 14-19 September at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, the venue for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Sailing events.
• Run by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta is open to all Olympic and Paralympic Classes
• The title sponsor of the event is Skandia supported by UK Sport
• Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at: http://www.uksport.gov.uk/ and Sport England’s website at http://www.sportengland.org/

About Skandia
Skandia in the UK launched in 1979 and is now one of the leading international long term savings groups providing pensions, investment and protection products through intermediaries in the UK and overseas, with assets under management of £34.9n (as at 31.12.08). Creators of the MultiManager approach, Skandia has teamed up with the world's top fund managers to create a range of funds tailored for investors' individual needs.
Skandia UK is part of an international group founded in Sweden in 1855. The group is a leading, independent provider of long-term savings solutions.
Skandia UK is a division of the Skandia Group, itself owned by Old Mutual plc. Old Mutual is an international financial services group, listed on the London Stock Exchange where it is a FTSE 100® company, making it one of the largest 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Old Mutual is headquartered in London.
Being a part of Old Mutual makes Skandia a key division of the seventh largest life assurer in Europe, with a strong financial base. The combined group has funds under management of £264.8 billion and has approximately 50,000* employees.  *As at 30 December 2008, Source: Old Mutual.  


UK Sport
UK Sport's mission is to work in partnership to lead sport in the UK to world-class success. Our overall goal is to help British athletes achieve a top four finish in the medal table at the 2012 Olympic Games and to retain second place at the Paralympic Games. To achieve this we focus on World Class Performance, thereby ensuring our athletes can access the support they need to compete and win at the highest level. This primary goal is supported by work in the areas of Worldwide Impact (building Britain's reputation on the global sporting scene) and World-Class Standards (ensuring British athletes succeed fairly and cleanly). Part of our remit is to co-ordinate and participate in the UK's efforts to bid for and stage major events on home soil. Through our Lottery-funded World Class Events Programme we have supported the bidding for and staging of over 100 events of World, European and Commonwealth status since 1997. Through this programme, we are supporting the 2009 Skandia Sail For Gold Regatta with up to £225,000. For more information visit www.uksport.gov.uk  

 
The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy                 The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) is a world class sailing venue and effectively promotes the sport of sailing to all levels of competence and ability, through courses, training and events, whilst supporting and working closely with the local community.  The WPNSA will be the venue for the sailing competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, Weymouth and Portland has been recognised as having some of the best boating waters on the planet.  The Academy currently runs a number of high profile regattas throughout the year and boasts fantastic conference and event facilities.  The WPNSA is committed to conserving the local environment winning the 2008 Sport Industry Award for Environmental Concern in Sport. www.wpnsa.org.uk