IT WAS like being taught karaoke by Madonna at the Royal Albert Hall. Here I was being shown the ropes of a high-performance 49er boat by double Olympic medallist Simon Hiscocks on the world-class sailing waters of Portland Harbour.

The thin wires and unusual ‘winged’ Skiff dinghy that had seemed so daunting on land suddenly made perfect sense and before I knew it I was feeling confident about hanging off the side of the boat on a trapeze harness.

We raced across the 2012 sailing venue where Olympians and Paralympians will compete next year at the home Games of London, in idyllic beginner conditions of light winds, calm waters and sunshine.

The two-man 49er boat class is one of the most popular Olympic events, with five British teams ranked top 10 in the world, all vying for the coveted spot to represent Team GB in 2012.

Simon, of Fortuneswell, Portland said: “There are five or six British teams out there that most countries in the world would give their eyeteeth to have as their Olympic representatives.

“But only one can compete – so that’s four or five teams sat watching.”

For the silver and bronze medal winning crew to Ian Barker at Sydney 2000 and Chris Draper at Athens 2004, failing to win selection for the 2008 Beijing Games was a massive blow.

“I probably haven't ever really got over it,” he admits.

“I always thought ‘I wonder what it would be like’ then when it happened, it had been coming for a while.

“We kind of slipped into it and I took it on the chin quite philosophically, one of those things, but we could’ve gone to that Olympics and had a chance of having a medal.”

Instead, Skandia Team GBRs Stephen Morrison and Ben Rhodes were selected and finished ninth.

Simon soon started sailing again with Dave Evans and the pair vowed to campaign for 2012 if they came top 10 at the Worlds and Sail for Gold.

He said: “We ended up 11th, so close but we hadn’t made the target and I had sort of stopped enjoying it a little bit.

“I enjoy it again now.”

Simon, 37, describes the challenge of anticipating the wind angles, waves, tide and boat positions as a ‘big game of chess’ and believes sailors require a high level of physical fitness ‘because the mental demands are really high and any detriment to physical state, the harder it is to think’.

Despite Shock Sailing, his specialist boat product business, recently expanding from a shed in Winterbourne Abbas to the new maritime centre at Osprey Quay, Simon hasn’t ruled out making a comeback for the 2016 Games in Rio.

He’ll be 43 by then, which in a boat as dynamic as the 49er skiff would be unusual but not impossible for the super-fit sailing star.

“It’s quite possible I could campaign again, it’s too late for London but you never know what might happen.

“Ryan Giggs is the same age and you still see him competing in the Champions League.”

The graceful boat hardly seems to gain speed yet the background scenery is whizzing by and it is easy to see why the 49er is so popular.

Simon finds it ‘really good fun to sail and really challenging’ particularly at a top speed of 30mph, which he said requires crew to use their whole body to control the power.

Luckily for me and disappointingly for Simon, the wind remains calm for our sail, we hoist the spinnaker and take turns helming and crewing the boat, using our weight to balance out the sail.

After impressing Simon with my ease on the trapeze, my lack of training becomes evident when I attempt to pull in the spinnaker and declare it must be stuck, only for Simon to pull it in one-handed while controlling the boat.

I also over-steer and get dunked a few times but the Olympian always manages to avoid getting wet.

Simon is enthusiastic about next year’s Olympic and Paralympic sailing events being held on his doorstep.

He said: “I’ve registered for tickets for the 49er medal race – I thought ‘I have to see that’ – and some events up in London, although I don’t really want to be away from here for too long.

“Weymouth is going to rock for those two weeks.

“I think it will be one of the most exciting times of most people’s lives, there will just be an atmosphere that will start from this summer and run on all year.”

THE ‘Shock’ in Shock Sailing is a play on Simon Hiscocks’ name and his business speciality is designing and selling high-performance boat parts.

Simon said: “The little details become incredibly important when you’re trying to compete at the top level. With everyone finishing within seconds of each other it creates quite a demand on measures and things that are easier to use while you’re trying to go faster.”

He added: “Sailing is an incredibly interesting sport, it isn’t about winning one race, it’s like Formula One – you have to perform consistently.”

The business, which was formerly at Midway Down Business Park, Winterbourne Abbas is now based at Maritime Centre, Osprey Quay, Portland.

Shock Sailing will be holding a stand at the regatta village of this year’s Sail for Gold regatta. Find out more at shocksailing.com