The sailing world will converge upon Perth today for the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships.
Over 1,100 sailors from 78 nations will compete in the ten Olympic events as they look to claim World Championship glory and qualify their nations for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition.
The Australians took the 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup title ahead of Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis of Greece and Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos of France. The World #2 Greek pair will be worth a watch, but the Australians main rivalry could come from the French pair. Leboucher and Garos have had the better of the Australians in 2011 finishing ahead of them in three World Cup regattas and winning the Olympic Test Event. Belcher and Page will want to stamp their authority on the chasing pack by taking the World Championship.
In total 16 athletes will compete in nine different events at the ISAF Sailing World Championships. The Greek team consists of A. Papathanasiou, A. Tsotras. D. Demos, M. Pateniotis who will compete at the 49 ER Regatta. P. Mantis, P. Kagialis, S. Papadopoulos and P. Kabouridis will compete at the 470 (Men) event. V. Kravariotis and O. Tsigaridis at the 470 (Women) event. V. Kokkalanis at the RS:X Men’s event. A. Skarlatou at the RS:X Women’s event. I. Mitakis (Finn), E. Himonas and A. Bougiouris at the Laser Std event and A. Agrafiotis at the Laser Rdl Women’s event.