They are fast, furious and skim across the water spectacularly.
The International 14s are one of the more dramatic yacht classes, and for the next 12 days 78 of the world's best crews will battle it out off Takapuna.
The International 14s are a development class, which means sailors design
their own boats. From their inception in the 1920s, the yachts were designed to be light and fast.
"The action on the water will be thrilling to watch," said the Commodore of the Takapuna Boating Club, Paul O'Dowd.
"Anyone who hasn't watched an International 14 flying by, half-airborne, with the two racers perched high above the water, is in for a treat."
The championships have attracted 78 boats from Australia, Canada, Germany, Britain, Japan, New Zealand and the United States.
The teams event, where two four-boat teams go head to head around a short course in a round-robin format, takes place from Tuesday till Thursday.
The four New Zealand boats for the teams event will be selected at the Sail Auckland regatta at Takapuna today, tomorrow and Monday.
The fleet racing, open to anyone, starts on Friday and runs to February 19.
The retirement of world champion Rob Greenhalgh, who has moved on to a round-the-world yacht race campaign, has opened the championship right up.
With several former world champions, Australian and American national champions all attending, the title could go to any one of several crews.
New Zealand's best hope could lie with former Team New Zealand sailors Daniel Slater and Nathan Handley, who represented the country in the 49er class at the Sydney Olympics.
They are just starting out in the class, but Slater believes the new boat they constructed could give them an edge.
Slater said there would not be two boats the same. "Everyone has different ideas about what culminates to a winning boat, there is no right or wrong."
Slater, who is about to embark on an Olympic campaign in the Finn class, said although the world championships would be their first international regatta, he believed their long partnership should help.
"We are pretty green, but the advantage for us is that Nathan and I have sailed together for so long. These boats are pretty similar to a 49er, so once we learned to sail the boat, how we operated as a crew came back pretty quickly."
As for lining up alongside 77 other fast vessels: "It will be pretty neat ... I think the big thing will be getting off the start line and being able to sail the race you want."
* Many of New Zealand's top sailors are in action this weekend in the Sail Auckland Regatta. The four-day regatta, which started yesterday, includes Olympic and invited classes and is being held at the Kohimarama Yacht Club and Takapuna Boating Club.
INTERNATIONAL 14S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
* Where: Off the Takapuna Boating Club.
* When: Teams event February 8-10, Fleet racing February 11-19.
NZ crews competing
* Matt Balmer and David Tucker (Napier)
* Selby Howard and Karl Banks (Napier)
* Dan Slater and Nathan Handley (Auckland)
* Grant Bourke and Luke Gower (Auckland)
* Matt Nolan and John Thorman (Auckland)
* Phil Coveny and Grant Hartley (Auckland)
* Tony Smith and Matthew Smith (Auckland)
Daniel Slater shows his Laser skills. Picture / Derek Flynn
They are fast, furious and skim across the water spectacularly.
The International 14s are one of the more dramatic yacht classes, and for the next 12 days 78 of the world's best crews will battle it out off Takapuna.
The International 14s are a development class, which means sailors design
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