The Unofficial Weymouth & Portland 2012 Olympic Blog

Yesterday the crown of the Weymouth Eye tower was lifted into place by a massive 500-ton crane. The BBC has video coverage for you to watch here on what was a glorious sunny day in Weymouth.

Some New pics of the Weymouth Eye or the ‘Sealife Tower’ as it seems it will be branded, including the viewing module which will house up to 80 people

Apologies for the unusually cloudy british weather in this picture, there really has been stunning weather conditions lately for all to enjoy!

I was out for a bike ride and on my way back through town I stopped and snapped this image, looks like the Weymouth Eye is really starting to take shape!

Edit: viewing the tower again this weekend and the eye has had another bolt on column added to increase its height further (and also to prove we do have some great weather conditions here lately!)

Covered by the local echo, it seems anyone wishing to travel to Weymouth during the Olympic games and stay in the harbour should perhaps think twice as the prices are set to triple in a pretty clear attempt to cash in on the games.

A reported example is a vessel under 15 metres long would be charged up to £270 per 24hr period, compared to just £75 outside of the Olympic dates. The excuse given was to recoup the £400,000 investment made on the harbour in recent years however considering we’ve lost the Condor ferry service due to the harbour wall becoming unsafe for use, one would be inclined to be a tad confused at that explanation…

So there you have it, if you are a boat/yacht owner, fancy visiting Weymouth and Portland during the Olympic games, be sure to hand over your wallet upon arrival. 38% of the berths are still available at time of writing so please form an orderly queue at the harbour entrance…

Plans have been revealed to close the Weymouth esplanade from 10am to 10pm each day during the Olympics unless you are the holder of a so called ‘golden ticket’ allowing access, enforced by ‘hard checkpoints’ (Baghdad anyone?). Since the announcement of Weymouth being an olympic host there was always rumors that something like this would happen and this report by the daily echo confirms yet more chaos will be caused by the Olympics, other measure include:

-no parking infront of weymouth train station
-Swannery car park to be a ‘transport hub’
-Park street to be ‘accessibility hub’ with 60 disabled spaces
-‘golden tickets’ to be handed out to seafront hotel owners, their guests and no doubt anyone competing in the Olympics or connected to it
-official volunteers to escort the estimated 60,000 visitors per day along the ‘last mile’ from the station/transport hub to the seafront and nothe gardens spectating areas.

Did anyone tell them we are hosting just the sailing? I seem to remember the test events passing without any real impact of the town, and that was which half the roundabouts were being dug up to put in our ‘intelligent’ traffic lights

The Dorset echo has reported that the initial construction work for the new Weymouth Eye attraction has begun.

7 Metre deep foundations for the tower are expected to be started in January, spokesman for Merlin Entertainments (the private company behind the attraction) has commented that the view from the height of the tower (53m) is quite spectacular, allowing views across the Jurassic coast, the sailing area itself and also inland into the Dorset countryside.

The attraction has also been renamed ‘The Weymouth Tower’ so maybe I and everyone else should stop calling it the Weymouth Eye…

The Dorset Echo has today broken the news that the Weymouth Eye tourist attraction, to be funded and run by Merlin Entertainments, the company behind Sea Life centres and the London Eye, have gained approval by town planners and is therefore clear to go ahead!

I would like to add that personally I think this is a very good deal for Weymouth and anything extra to draw visitors in can only be seen as a good thing by all, at no cost to the taxpayer!

Full Dorset Echo article here

In one years time the Olympic games will be kicking off, mainly in London and locally at the Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy. The official spectating location has also today been confirmed as the Nothe fort area of Weymouth, with presumably some sort of park and ride facility to handle the estimated 4’000 spectators per day in the official ticketed area. If you have tickets don’t for one moment think you will be able to drive to the specator area!

Don’t have tickets for the area? suggest your favourite viewing spots of the Weymouth bay area in the comments below! The best entries that are not trying to promote gambling of sell certain types of medication will be published!

The council have approved the lease for the proposed Weymouth-Eye attraction. The originally reported story at the Dorset Echo states it is hoped this new attraction, planned to be ready to go in time for the Olympic sailing events will generate an extra 1 million in income for Weymouth. Although I couldn’t comment on the boost to the economy it would provide (finger in the wind style like the council) theres no doubt it would draw extra tourism into the town to compliment the always great beach, the true jewel in Weymouth’s crown that will always draw people in despite the state of our road network which seems to grow into a bigger farce each day and is no doubt costing everyone invested in tourism throughout the town.

The even better bonus of ‘the eye’ is that us as tax-payers aren’t paying for it, its a private venture by Merlin, the company behind attractions such as the Sea-Life centres and the London Eye.

So in conclusion, big thumbs up from me!

Artists impression of how the Weymouth Eye could look

The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy will from next week (June 6th) be hosting the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, from their schedule this doesn’t appear to be the official Olympic test event, that is in July it appears.

Some of the World’s highest profile elite sailors and windsurfers as well as Paralympians are already on-site training from the Academy (and I’ve seen lots of them driving round the town/queuing in traffic)
If you want to follow the action the WPNSA has a webcam or you could take a trip down to Portland and visit the site, which is fantastic!

If you fancy trying something different on the weekend of 21-22nd May head on down to the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy and give stand up paddleboarding, known to its followers as SUP, or windsurfing a try! The event is being organised by Jaffa (of Jaffa Cakes fame?).

On offer is fully qualified instructors to make getting started in either of the sports as easy as possible for you, there is no mention of how many places will be available so I’d suggest getting down there early to avoid disappointment. There is also the spectacle of a SUP race on offer, with experienced SUP racers taking part, which in itself would be worth a visit.

The weekends schedule at the WPNSA also includes the BSA’s national windsurfing and a sea swimming competition.