KEY POINTS:
Defending champions Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams will be the first New Zealanders to hit the water when the Sailing world championships begin off Portugal tomorrow morning (NZ time).
The Olympic fate of six classes will be determined for New Zealand, with the men's Star, Laser, Finn and
470 classes and the women's 470 and Yngling crews all using this regatta to qualify a boat for Beijing.
Pepper will have regular crew Williams back in the Star after competing with temporary replacements in recent events due to Williams's commitments with the Oracle Racing campaign in the America's Cup.
They contest is arguably the strongest class, with a swag of former Olympic medallists among the 71-strong fleet.
Current champions Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira of Brazil are competing, as well as another experienced Brazilian pair, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada.
New Zealand crews will contest 10 of the 11 classes at Cascais, with 46 New Zealand entries are among the 1400 sailors in 945 boats.
If weather permits, each class will sail ten races to decide who sails the double points medal race. Just one race score can be discarded.
Brett Sellers and Bruce Kendall in the Tornado also begin tomorrow, with the Laser and Laser Radials starting a day later.
Auckland's Jo Aleh, 21, enters the Laser Radial event having won her first international grade one regatta convincingly at Kiel Week in Germany two weeks ago.
She faces stiff competition from Australians Sarah Blanck and Krystal Weir, along with Americans Anna Tunnicliffe and Paige Railey.
Andrew Murdoch is a leading chance in the Laser fleet while Dan Slater, who won a bronze medal at Kiel Week, should be among the Finn pacesetters.
Nine New Zealand board sailors will start on Friday, with Tom Ashley looking to make amends for narrowly missing the world title last year.
He has been in impressive form on the RS:X board which makes its Olympic debut next year, having won all four regattas he has entered this year.
Ashley hoped to continue his good form although his main objective this year was a pre-Olympic regatta at Qingdao in August.
Barbara Kendall still tops the list of New Zealand women board sailors and should have another staunch battle with world champion, Allessandra Sensini of Italy and world No 1 Marina Alabau of Spain.
It will be multiple Olympic medallist Barbara Kendall's first event since she won gold in the women's RS:X board sailing at the Trofeo Princess Sofia regatta off Spain three months ago.
New Zealand team
Men:
RS:X: Tom Ashley, Jon Paul Tobin, Antonnio Cozzolino, Michael Lichtwark
Laser: Andrew Murdoch, David Weaver, Josh Junior, Matt Blakey, Matt Coutts, Michael Bullot, Blair McLay
Finn: Dan Slater
470: Carl Evans/Peter Burling, Andrew Brown/Nick Taylor, Phillip Keen/Stephen Keen, Geoff Woolley/Mark Overington
Star: Hamish Pepper/Carl Williams, Rohan Lord/Miles Addy
Tornado: Brett Sellers/Bruce Kendall, Dave Shaw/Susan Shaw, Paul Francis/Aaron Duncan
Women:
RS:X: Barbara Kendall, Kate Ellingham, Steffanie Williams, Hayley Thom, Justina Sellers
Laser Radial: Jo Aleh, Miranda Powrie, Sara Winther, Cushla Hume-Merry
470: Sarah Bilkey/Rosie Sargisson, Shelley Hesson/Bianca Barbarich-Bacher, Melinda Henshaw/Olivia Powrie
Yngling: Sharon Ferris/Raynor Smeal/Shandy Buckley
- NZPA