Its only one week to go until the New Zealand sailing team take on the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta which acts as test event as part of the London Prepares series. The event opens with the mens and womens RS:X fleets beginning their racing on August 4th. Competing amongst the 34 men will be New Zealands Jon Paul and Natalia Kosinska will be battling it out against the 30 other women entered in the event. Following on the next day with over 100 sailors to compete with are New Zealanders Sara Winther and Andrew Murdoch in the single-handed dinghy events. There will also be Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie and Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders in the double-handed 470 womens and mens events. London Scholarship Holders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are next to hit the water in the 49er skiff on August 6th, along with Dan Slater who is part of a competitive field in the Finn event. On the same day Star sailors Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk will be racing against some of the worlds best in their event. Each class has five days of scheduled qualifying races and a reserve day if required. Finals will be on 13th August where medals will be decided. The format and conditions are what can be expected by sailors when they compete next year in London 2012 Olympics. Dave Currie, New Zealand Olympic Team Chef de Mission will attend a number of test events designed to check venue functionality and give high performance teams an invaluable look at how systems and processes will work at the Olympic Games next year. Currie will join New Zealand athletes and support teams at the Junior World Rowing Championships on the Olympic course at Eton Dorney, as well as the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta 2011 and the ITU World Series Triathlon test event in Hyde Park.
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