Writing in a blog published today on insidethegames, the triple Olympic gold medallist reveals that the competition will be an important stepping stone on the road to London 2012.

Ainslie writes: "I think Sail for Gold is a really important regatta for me to attend to not only check in with where the rest of the Finn fleet are, and what developments have taken place since I've been away, but also to familiarise myself with the venue and conditions as I've actually not raced an Olympic class boat at Weymouth and Portland for about five or six years."

Ainslie, Britain's most successful ever sailor who is now skippering Team Origin, which hopes to challenge for the America's Cup, has spent some time training in the Finn in Lymington but is not expecting to win in Weymouth.

The 33-year-old wrote: "I have to accept I'm not going to be 100 per cent race ready, 100 per cent Finn fit and at my ideal racing weight, and I'm sure it will be frustrating for me at times not being able to do things I'd normally take for granted, but the benefits of competing far outweigh any frustrations I may experience as long as I'm realistic, and possibly more importantly, other people are realistic about what I can achieve on such limited preparation.

"The prospect of racing the Finn again is really exciting to me and that counts for a lot.

"An Olympic cycle is a long, long road, which can get quite tedious, and many of the Finn guys will also have one eye on the Worlds, which take place in San Francisco just after Sail for Gold.

"I'll enjoy getting to grips with the boat in racing conditions again and the lack of preparation time means I'll have to concentrate on getting the basics, like starts and tactics, right as I'll be lacking boat speed in other areas and probably won't take as many chances as I would if I had the speed elsewhere.

"My experience is going to be really important and I know I'm going to find it difficult at times but as you get older you generally get a bit more philosophical about things; I don't have to prove myself in the Finn class and there are too many positives to doing the event to worry about "What if I don't win?"

"Any result inside the top 10 would be a good result."

To read the full blog click here.

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