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9:11 PM Mon 15 Dec 2008 GMT
 | | 'Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page, New 470 team 2008'
Australian Sailing Team
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Australia's current Olympic sailors and upcoming Champions will hit the water in the first round of the new World Cup Series of sailing - Sail Melbourne.
Members of the Australian Sailing Team and Australian Sailing Development Squad are among the current 195 international competitors taking part in 17 classes of competition from Tuesday 16 to Sunday 21 December 2009 at Sandringham Yacht Club.
For new Australian Men's 470 team of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Gold medallist Malcolm Page (NSW) and skipper Mathew Belcher (QLD), Sail Melbourne will be their first competition together since they formally announced their partnership two weeks ago.
'This is a big test as our first competitive outing as a new crew,' said Page.
'We're really proud to be making our debut at the first World Cup event and also proud that Sail Melbourne has been selected as the first event in the World Cup Series.
'We're keen to get out there amongst the best in Australia and to see how we go against the US team.'
Australian Paralympic Silver medallist Rachael Cox (QLD) will compete in the 2.4m keelboat where she is expected to dominate the fleet of Australian crews and New Zealand's Tim Morland.
Australia's future Olympic champions may well be among the Australian Sailing Development Squad (ASDS) members taking part in Sail Melbourne.
For athletes such as Sandringham locals Sam Kivell and Max Taylor, this major international competition is part of their program to eventually qualify for the Australian Sailing Team and perhaps take part in the ISAF World Championships to be held in Perth in 2011 and the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The pair are competing in the Men's 470 and have sailed together for four years. Both 19 years old, Kivell and Taylor won the 2008 Warnemunde Woche in Germany in the 470 class, have won the 420 National Championships three times and are the 2008 Victorian Youth Sailors of the Year.
'We're very lucky to have a world class regatta like this at our home yacht club,' said Kivell.
'Having Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page here is also a great opportunity for us to learn from the best.
'Since we were in Europe over June and July, we've been training for this regatta and the Nationals coming up in January.
'So this week is really important to us.'
ASDS women's Radial sailor Gabrielle King (NSW) is one of the rising stars of Australian sailing and is looking to finish the Sail Downunder Series, of which Sail Melbourne is the final event, on a high note. King won her single-handed dinghy class at Sail Brisbane and came second at the Sydney International Regatta behind Great Britain's Alison Young. Young, also an emerging Olympian in her home country, is competing in Melbourne so expect a tussle for final honours. King has had a highly successful 2008, winning Gold at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Denmark and Gold at the Laser Radial Women's Youth World Championship in New Zealand.
Both King and Young will be up against the world's reigning number one Laser Radial sailor and Beijing 2008 Olympic Gold medallist Anna Tunnicliffe.
'Sail Melbourne is a fantastic opportunity to get more high quality racing here in Australia in preparation for my first trip to Europe next year for Kiel Week,' said King, who was named Youth Sailor of the Year at the 2008 Australian Yachting Awards.
'It's a great chance to step up and test myself out and get a gauge of how my training is developing.'
In the Finn Class, ASDS member James Paterson (SA) is an emerging talent to watch at this event. He won his class at the recent Sydney International Regatta with a nine point lead and is considered to have great potential by Olympic coach Mike Fletcher.
Yachting Australia CEO Phil Jones said events such as Sail Melbourne, which has a Grade One event rating with the International Sailing Federation, are vital for young athletes to gain experience in the pressure environment of top competition.
'There's a very different mindset required at a world class regatta and the only thing that helps develop the decision-making skills, the reaction times and the ability to cope with the intensity of competition is experience at that level,' said Jones.
'Sail Melbourne is an important event for our developing champions and a great opportunity for us to also identify and assess talent from around the nation.'
by Nicole Browne
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