Hayling Island sailor Eilidh McIntyre allowed to resume training with Olympic partner Hannah Mills

From Monday, she can resume training with 470 partner Hannah Mills after British Sailing moved to stage two of the government’s guidance to elite athletes.

Back on May 20 the British Sailing team moved to stage one, which allowed single-handed sailors and double-handed crews from the same household to take part in individual organised training.

Stage two allows double-handed sailors who don’t live in the same house – such as McIntyre and Mills - to train together. It will also allow athletes to train in squads under the guidance of their coaches.

This dispensation is afforded to elite sports under the Government’s latest guidelines for a phased return to training and does not yet apply to members of the general public.

As a precaution, crews will only be allowed to sail within their normal pairing. Extra processes for ensuring health and safety while rigging and derigging will also be implemented.

As per the Department for Culture, Media and Sport guidelines, all sailors, coaches and support staff have to opt in to return to training - there is no obligation for anyone to do so.

Screening will take place each day before any athlete or coach begins training, and each athlete will work with their coach to carry out a risk assessment of their training plans.

Social distancing measures continue to be important and will remain in place for everyone except those who live together.

The British Sailing Team’s swift return to the water has been aided by the actions of staff at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, who quickly put in place safety measures to allow sailors to access their boats and slipways.

Social distancing rules measures have been implemented in the boat park as well as extra hand washing stations.

Launch times are staggered to avoid congestion in the boat park or on slipways.

The main academy building remains closed, and the sailors’ indoor training facilities are also currently closed.

These new steps will allow those sailors selected to represent Team GB at the Tokyo Games to refocus on performance with 13 months to go until the rescheduled tournament in China.

Mark Robinson, the RYA’s Olympic Performance Manager, said: “We welcome the latest guidelines from DCMS that will allow our double-handed teams from differing households to train together.

‘All 15 athletes selected for Team GB at Tokyo 2020 will now be able to get back on the water and resume training in their squads.

‘However, this is just one small part of a phased return to training for the team. We are all too aware of the threat that Covid-19 still poses and we will continue to do all we can to safeguard our sailors, staff and the wider community.

‘Our ability to return to training in this way is an allowance that we don’t take lightly, and we will continue to work with our sport science and medicine team as well as UK Sport, EIS and the Government to ensure appropriate safety measures are in place.’