Hampshire Olympic gold medal winners - Shirley Robertson from Hill Head, Iain Percy based in Southampton and Ben Ainslie from Lymington - will be in the spotlight when they open the London Boat Show next week.

Europe class gold med-allist and World Sailor of the Year, Shirley is one of the leading women sailors afloat today.

Ben won Olympic gold in the Laser class in Sydney, while Iain took first place in the Finn class, fighting off strong opposition in the final competition stages.

Paul Streeter, managing director of the London Boat Show organisers, said: "We are delighted that Shirley, Iain and Ben are opening the event for us, as there is no one more appropriate than our sailing gold medallists.

"Everyone at the boat show is immensely proud of their outstanding achievements and their appearance will give us the opportunity to recognise this.''