6:40 AM Wed 6 Jan 2010 GMT
Australian Sailing Team crew Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page will be aiming for their fourth and eighth Australian 470 Championship titles respectively when the 2010 regatta begins at Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club on Thursday 7 January.
The pair has dominated the 470 class in Australia in recent years and is looking for their second title together after pairing up just over a year ago.
Belcher and Page head into the regatta full of confidence after taking wins from their last two starts, Sail Sydney and Sail Melbourne, which included going through the Melbourne regatta undefeated.
'We had some time off over Christmas which was good and have been back on the water for the last three days,' said Page. 'We're both really looking forward to getting back into some racing.'
'We should have some good conditions over the next week with a bit of everything. The peninsular, ocean and bay all throw up some interesting conditions and then get mixed in with the tidal effect from Port Phillip Bay.'
17 crews will take to the water for the 2010 Australian 470 Championship representing four nations. Sam Kivell and Will Ryan will be pushing Belcher and Page the whole way following a strong start to their summer which included first place at Sail Brisbane, second at Sail Sydney and third at Sail Melbourne.
In the women's class West Australians Stacey Omay and Chelsea Hall will be hard to beat, having put in a number of good performances over the last few months.
Following the Australian 470 Championship Belcher and Page head off to Miami where they will take part in round two of the ISAF Sailing World Cup from 24-30 January.
'Miami will be a benchmark review of what we've worked on over the Australian summer,' said Page. 'We're looking forward to the competition as many of the top 15 at the last World Championships will be competing, it's going to be a retake of the middle of last year in Europe.'
www.australiansailingteam.com.au
by Craig Heydon
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Manly, QLD
