Olympians, World and European Champions are among a streamlined British Sailing Team entry to this week’s World Cup Series event in Gamagori, Japan (17 – 22 October).

The World Cup regatta – the first leg of the 2017-18 Series – will be the first event in a fortnight of Olympic classes racing on Japanese waters, with Enoshima Olympic Week, taking place at the 2020 Games venue (27 – 29 October), providing a useful fact-finding opportunity for those with eyes on Olympic medals in three years’ time.

Eighteen British Sailing Team talents will first contest the World Cup event at Kaiyoh Yacht Harbour, some 280km to the west of the Games venue, with 2016 Olympians Luke Patience-Chris Grube marking their return to the Olympic campaign trail at the event after a post-Rio break.

They’re among the 24 teams in the 470 Men’s line-up, while four boats from the in-form British 49er squad are set to race, including World and European Champions Dylan Fletcher-Stuart Bithell and World and European silver medallists James Peters-Fynn Sterritt.

Jack Hawkins-Chris Thomas and Chris Taylor-Sam Batten will join their teammates in the 20-boat men’s skiff event.

Straight off the back of his European Championship-winning exploits, Nick Thompson will spearhead a four-boat British Laser entry, and is joined by Lorenzo Chiavarini, the sixth-placed European sailor at the recent continental Championships, plus Michael Beckett and Jack Wetherell.

Alison Young and Georgina Povall will contest the women’s single-handed Laser Radial event, while young windsurfing talents Andy Brown – British Youth Sailing’s representative at the upcoming Youth Sailing World Championships in December – and Dan Wilson looking to build their senior experience in the RS:X Men’s division.

Racing at the World Cup Series Gamagori gets underway today, with medal races for the RS:X and 49er fleets on Saturday 21 October, and the Laser, Laser Radial and 470 Men’s events on Sunday 22 October.

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