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There is plenty at stake for New Zealand's Olympic sailors this summer as they gear up for a busy few months on the water.
With Beijing just around the corner, the world championship regattas to be held over the next few months will be the final opportunity for the sailors who have not already made the grade to qualify for the Olympics.
Auckland will host the world champs in the RS:X boardsailing, Tornado and Laser Radials classes.
Olympic hopefuls from around the world will also head to Auckland to compete against stiff Kiwi competition in the 2008 Sail Auckland Regatta.
The regatta is an International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade One status event. This is the second year that the event will be part of the elite seven-strong International Olympic Class racing circuit, with competition to take place in the RS:X, 470s and Laser Radial men's and women's divisions, along with the 49er, Finn and Tornado mens divisions.
New Zealand has already sealed their place at next year's Games in the RS:X and women's Laser Radial, with veteran Barbara Kendall and Tom Ashley selected for the boardsailing and Jo Aleh nominated for the Laser Radial spot.
However, New Zealand is still yet to qualify a boat in the Tornado class. With 75 per cent of the field for the Olympics determined at last year's world champs in Portugal, only 25 per cent of the places at Beijing remain. This means New Zealand must finish in the top four outside of the countries who have already qualified.
With the regattas to be held in Auckland, Yachting New Zealand's Olympic coaching director Rod Davis believes Kiwis are strong medal chances.
"The home team normally performs better than they do overseas so you would look for some really strong performances.
"Having said that, with the Olympic sailors that have already been selected - take Jo Aleh for instance - she's already gone down to weight for Qingdao, so if it's a windy regatta she'll struggle, even though she's on her home turf.
"They're concentrating on the Olympic Games but they definitely want to do well, there's no question about that."
A similar situation exists for Dan Slater and Andrew Murdoch in the Finn and Laser classes respectively. The pair have already been selected for Beijing regardless of their performances at the World Champs in Australia.
"It gives them the opportunity to work on their performances in Qingdao's conditions and not have to worry about being all-round sailors," Davis said.
Australia will also host the 49er world championships, which will be held in Melbourne next week, with New Zealand yet to qualify a boat for Beijing.
This year's Yngling and Star World Champs are much further afield, in Miami.
New Zealand has already qualified the two classes for Beijing at the last world championships but Yachting NZ are yet to determine individual athletes.
New Zealand has two strong star teams, one led by Rohan Lord, the other led by Hamish Pepper, who are both vying for the one spot. Performances at the world championships will go a long way in determining which crew will be nominated for the spot.
The women's Yngling crew led by Sharon Ferris are the only Kiwi team in line for a spot at Beijing in their class. They still need to prove they are capable of winning a medal at the Olympics.
"That's the standard that we use for yachting, which really means they've got to be in the top little group in the world," Davis said.
"It's pretty tough, but the bottom line is the more people we send the less support we can give. So let's really support the ones that we do send properly, and not just fill out the dance card."
