The event has attracted all of the worlds best Olympic class sailors and many nations will not only be using it as a good test to determine how their sailors are going against their foreign competitors, but also to decide Olympic, Pre-Olympic and 2003 ISAF World Sailing Championship selections.

Last year the British sailing team left Hyeres with five medals and this year they will be hoping that their recent success at Barcelona Olympic Week and the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma may mean that they can equal, if not better, this result.

With 158 competitors, the Laser class is going to be one of the toughest fleets. RYA Team GBR sailor Paul Goodison topped the class last year and managed to beat the now six times world champion Robert Scheidt on the final day to take gold. After finishing with silver medals from both the Miami and Palma Olympic class regattas, this is the first event of 2003 that Goodison will line up against Scheidt and it will be a good test to see if the winter training has paid off and if he can overcome the Brazilian sailor. Fellow team GBR sailors Ed Wright, Mark Howard and Dan Holman will all be hoping to get a good result at this event.

The Finn fleet has attracted 67 boats representing 30 countries and there are a number of sailors that are capable of winning the class. RYA Team GBR sailor Ben Ainslie, who is the current world and European champion, just missed out on the final day at Palma to Sebastien Godefroid of Belgium and will be looking to change the result in France. Last years Hyeres winner and world silver medallist Mateusz Kusznierewicz of Poland and worlds bronze medallist Emilios Papathanasiou of Greece are also strong contenders for the gold medal at this regatta.

Team GBR sailor Shirley Robertson, who won gold at the Sydney Olympics in the Europe class, has teamed up for this Olympiad with Inga Leask and Sarah Ayton in the three person Yngling keelboat, which will be making it's debut at Athens. After a few up and down results last year, Robertson is currently showing good form for the 2003 season, with wins at both Barcelona and Palma. Other international teams that will be looking strong are current world champions Monica Azon, Laia Tutzo and Sandra Azon of Spain and world championship runner up and Palma bronze medallists Ulrike Schümann, Wibke Bülle and Winnie Lippert of Germany.

In the 49er, the Spanish have so far dominated the class this year with Santiago Lopez-Vazquez/Javier de la Plaza winning Palma with team mates and world champions Iker Martinez/Xabier Fernandez finishing just behind them in the number two spot. However, RYA Team GBR are also on good form and after finishing 2002 with silver and bronze medals at the world championships, they have continued this form into 2003. Chris Draper and Olympic silver medallist Simon Hiscocks finished second at the Cadiz test event, first at Barcelona and sixth at Palma and team mates Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith are yet to finish outside the top five with a fifth in Cadiz, third in Barcelona and fourth in Palma, so this event will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

Last years Hyeres regatta winners in the Tornado class, French sailors Olivier Backes/Laurent Voiron, will be the ones to beat after finishing 2002 as European champions and world championship silver medallists. Other challenges will come from Olympic champions Roman Hagara/Hans Peter Steinacher of Austria and world champion and Palma regatta winner Darren Bundock from Australia who has teamed up with A Class Catamaran World Champion Glenn Ashby. The British charge will come from Hugh Styles and Adam May who have sailed a good season so far winning the Cadiz test event and finishing runners up at Palma and also Leigh McMillan and Mark Bulkeley who finished sixth at both Barcelona and Palma.

In the 470 class, which has attracted 96 boats, there are number of talented sailors that could make the grade. These include last year's regatta winners and European champions Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page from Australia and world silver medallists Andreas Kosmatopoulos/Konstantinos Trigonis from Greece. For GBR sailors Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield, who narrowly missed out on a medal at the Sydney Olympics, this is just the second major event that they have competed in this year. After winning a bronze medal at the Europeans in 2002 and finishing sixth at their first event of the year, this pairing are looking on form to make an impact in the class. Team mate Graham Vials who has recently started sailing with new crew Bevis Field, has also been putting in steady results at the beginning of the season, finishing fourth at the Cadiz test event and tenth at Palma.

This is the second year that the 2.4mR Paralympic class has been included in this regatta. Seventeen boats have made the trip to France with French sailor Damien Seguin looking to be the pre regatta favourite after winning this event last year and finishing as runner up at the world championships. Representing Team GBR will be Allan Smith who will be hoping to repeat his silver medal success from Hyeres last year, as well as Andrew Millband, Valerie Millward and Megan Pascoe who all finished in the top ten at this event last year.

RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park commented, `For many of the competitors Hyeres will be the toughest challenge so far this year and I am hoping that the recent successes over the last couple of months will continue. There has been quite a bit of illness in the team throughout Barcelona and Palma but hopefully most of the individuals have recovered and will be on good form for this regatta.` He continued, `It is pleasing to see the Paralympic 2.4mR class continue to compete at this event and for them to be integrated into the Olympic class programme.`

The event begins at midday on Sunday 26 April and continues through until Friday May 2, with the prize giving at 18 00. For those classes racing in qualifying rounds, these will take place over the first three days with the final series starting from Wednesday.

Source: Sascha Oswald