Turning New Zealand's success in the 420 world championships into Olympic medals is now the challenge for Yachting New Zealand.
The NZ crews obliterated their opponents in the 420 championships which finished in Takapuna yesterday, claiming all three medals in the men's and women's divisions.
However, with the420s a precursor to the Olympic 470 class, the challenge now is to transfer that success into the 470s, a class NZ has done well in in the past.
The 470 is 50cm longer than the 420, hence the name, and is a much more powerful boat. The average combined weight of the two-person crew in the 470s is 135kg compared with 120-125kg in the 420s.
Apart from Jo Aleh, who is returning to her favoured Laser Radial, all of the NZ crews who placed in the 420 worlds will now concentrate on the 470.
They will compete in next month's nationals and the Sail Auckland regatta, which will determine which men will represent the country at the world championships in July.
The championships are the first chance sailors get to secure their country a spot in the class in next year's Olympics. If a crew is successful, Yachting NZ will then hold trials to determine which crew goes to Beijing.
Shelley Hesson and Bianca Barbarich-Bacher, who finished second in the 420 worlds, have already spent time in the 470. Hesson represented NZ in the class at the last Olympics with Linda Dickson, finishing 16th. Sarah Bilkey and Rosie Sargisson, who finished third in the 420s, are new to it.
There will be much interest in how youngsters Carl Evans and Peter Burling, who defended their 420 world title, adapt to the 470. NZ 420 head coach Mat Brown believes they will revel in it.
"They have mastered the 420 and it is probably holding them back a bit. The 470 is a more technical boat and they'll revel in the higher technical level of those boats. The fleet they will be sailing against will be another step up. The 420 fleet tends to be younger sailors because the [body] weight is less. It is a big boys' game now, it is a professional game but, having said that, they are more than ready for it."
Potentially, Evans and Burling could get to the next Olympics but had a small fleet of 470 crews to get past first.
