The number is the same but everything else about the would-be heirs to Britain’s “three blondes in a boat” is different as Lucy Macgregor and her crew begin the journey to the next Olympics, with the first high-profile regatta to be staged at the 2012 venue off Portland, near Weymouth, in Dorset, this week. Only one of them is blonde, for a start.

The “three blondes in a boat” name was given to the Yngling crew helmed by Shirley Robertson who won gold in the 2004 Games in Athens. Last year, Sarah Ayton skippered another all-blonde Britain crew to a gold medal. Now, though, the Yngling has been removed from the Olympic class list, replaced by the lighter, faster six- metre Elliott vessel.

They will compete in head-to-head match racing, with a round robin of races before quarter-finals, rather than the fleet racing system used in all other Olympic classes. Boats will be allocated to competitors by lot, to make it more balanced, and races will be held close to shore. The Elliott match racing could well be the most popular event in 2012 and Macgregor hopes to get the new Olympiad off to a flying start in the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta.

Macgregor is only 22, but she has been around a while. In 2005, she was handed the bow role in the Yngling with Robertson and Annie Lush and came close to qualifying as Britain’s entry for Beijing. “We were neck and neck with Sarah Ayton’s boat all the way through the World Championships, winning until the last race and then we slipped up,” Macgregor said.

With Ayton sitting out this year after giving birth to her first child — and expected to try for the 470 class — Macgregor saw an opportunity to run her own crew. She approached Lush, who had rowed for Cambridge in the women’s Boat Race, and then asked Ally Martin, 23, whom she had raced at youth level, to take her former bow role.

It has been an odd debut season. The Elliott boats were released only a few weeks ago, so racing has been held in whatever boats regattas have been able to get hold of. The World Championships were in boats twice the size of the Elliott and Macgregor’s crew finished ninth. In smaller boats they have done better, winning the World Cup regatta in the Netherlands and leading the overall standings.

“I really enjoy the boats,” she said. “They are fast and aquaplane beautifully. Those who do well will be those who push them to the limits.” Last week they won an international regatta without losing a race on the same waters and hope to keep the momentum going.

This regatta, the final stage in the World Cup series, is billed as the first event to be held at a completed 2012 venue and will offer a glimpse of how successful the Olympics can be. “It is important for people to come and see the Olympic venue as it will be,” Stephen Park, the Olympic manager, said. “Most of our sailors will spend 100-150 days a year here and this is the first time they can get their heads in a 2012 mindset against top-level competition — a chance to lay down a marker against their rivals — but this is also an opportunity for the race officials and organisers to show that they are ready to stage an Olympics.”

Britain has had a strong season. Nick Dempsey in the windsurfing and Paul Goodison in the Laser dinghy won world titles, with silver medals for the men’s 470 boat and in the 49er class. Although the best World Championship finish in the Finn class was Giles Scott in fourth place, there were four British boats in the top 11 and Ed Wright leads the World Cup series. “Results-wise it’s been fantastic, almost too good really,” Park said.

One surprising British entry in the Finn this week is Richard Hart, aged 70, who first raced in the Finn Gold Cup in 1963. One of his competitors is Florian Raudaschl, of Austria, whose father beat Hart in the event 46 years ago.