Well Done To All Our South Coast Athletes!

After a summer of sport and sailing off the south coast - London 2012 is officially over.

Helena Lucas was Great Britain's star on the south coast as the Paralympic hosts enjoyed a historic regatta in Weymouth and Portland.

While Team GB is the most successful nation in Olympic sailing history, somewhat surprisingly their Paralympic counterparts had not won a medal in the sport since its introduction in 2000.

That barren spell ended at London 2012 as those that endured a disappointing Games in Beijing returned four years on to make amends.

Southampton's Helena Lucas

Lucas could only finish seventh on her Paralympic debut in China but shone in Portland Harbour, dominating the regatta from the outset.

The 37-year-old deservedly took gold in the 2.4mR class after a week of fine sailing from the only woman in the 16-boat fleet.

Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell also left London 2012 with a medal, although bronze is not the colour the four-time world champions would have been hoping for.

The duo had come into the final race with a shot of upgrading to silver, only to be denied as a lack of wind saw racing cancelled.

Well nearly all our Paralympic athletes made it up to London for the Closing Ceremony -which included a huge fireworks display and performances from Coldyplay, Rhianna and Jay Z.

Rihanna live at the paralympics closing ceremony

But it seems the trip up there was one of the highlights for Helena. She said:

''We took the train up from Weymouth to London and it was absolutely amazing.

''The guard happened to mention there were a couple of medallists on the train and asked if we could do a quick walk of the train and show our medals.

''It was only five carriages long, but it took us two hours to walk through the train. We were mobbed.

''It really hit me then what an impact this has all had on the British public.

''The support they've shown and the passion that is out there, when the other guys get out of the bubble they will also experience that.''

Meanwhile Lucas has been awarded her very own gold postbox from Royal Mail.

But table tennis player Will Bayley - who just missed out on getting one himself after getting a silver and bronze medal -doesn't know what all the fuss is about.

Paralympic silver and bronze medalist, Will Bayley

But 24-year-old Bayley from Poole in Dorset said:

''I've got a tin foil postbox!

''I don't know what all this craze is about gold postboxes - it's all about tin foil.

''I think my friends did it - it's vandalism, really!''

Well while Lucas may be the only one to get a golden postbox, the overriding feeling is that this summer's success will spur Great Britain on to much more success at future Paralympics.

Paralympics Closing Ceremony 2012