Top crews to watch

Men's RS:X

Yuanguo ZHOU (CHN) - familiar with local conditions

Nick DEMPSEY (GBR) good in all conditions, third at 2007 Worlds, won bronze in Athens, eighth at 2006 pre-Olympic Event, hasn't finished out of the top ten in quite a while

Joao RODRIGUES (POR) current ISAF Ranking #2, fourth at 2007 Worlds, sixth in Athens, new to venue

Women's RS:X

Jian YIN (CHN) - familiar with local conditions, won silver in Athens, third at 2006 pre-Olympic Event

Barbara KENDALL (NZL) - fifth in Athens, has not finished out of the top 5 during the past year

Jessica CRISP (AUS) - third at 2007 Worlds, has always been on the leaderboard and has a very long wind surfing history

49er

Nico DELLE - KARTH and Nikolaus RESCH (AUY) - second at the 2007 Worlds

Peter HANSEN and Soren HANSEN (DEN) - fourth at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Iker MARTINEZ and Xabier FERNANDEZ (ESP) - gold in Athens

Stevie MORRISON and Ben RHODES (GBR) - coming off a win at the 2007 Worlds, sixth at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Pietro SIBELLO and Gianfranco SIBELLO (ITA) - seventh at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Rodion LUKA and Georgii LEONCHUK (UKR) - silver in Athens, third at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Finn

Chris COOK (CAN) - seventh at the 2007 Worlds, having a good year

Jonas HOEGH-CHRISTENSEN (DEN) - always in the top six since the beginning of 2006

Rafa TRUJILLO (ESP) - first at 2007 Worlds, silver medal at Athens Olympic Games, seventh at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Ben AINSLIE (GBR) - first at the 2006 pre-Olympic event, first at Athens and Sydney Olympic Games, second at Atlanta (latter two in the Laser)

Daniel SLATER (NZL) - having a good year, World Ranked #4, eighth at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Eduaid SKORNYAKOV (RUS) - first at the 2007 European Championships

Laser

Thomas LE BRETON (FRA) - eighth at the 2007 World Championship

Paul GOODISON (GBR) - first at 2006 pre-Olympic event, fourth at Athens Olympic Games, fifth at 2007 World Championship

Andrew MURDOCH (NZL) - third at 2006 pre-Olympic event, second at 2007 World Championships

Vasilij ZBOGAR (SLO) - third at Athens Games, fifth at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Tom SLINGSBY (AUS) - has had a string of first and second place finishes since 2004, top ranked ISAF Laser sailor, 2007 World Champion.

Laser Radial

Anna TUNNICLIFFE (USA) - fifth at 2007 World Championships, third at 2006 pre-Olympic event, top ranked Laser Radial sailor

Katarzyna SZOTYNSKA (POL) - fourth at 2007 World Championships, fifth at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Evi VAN ACKER (BEL) - has won numerous events over the past year and a half.

Men's 470

Johan MOLUND and Niels FLOHR (SWE) - fourth at Athens, has been on hiatus since, but is showing great form and is in the right frame of mind

Pierre LEBOUCHER and Vincent GAROS (FRA) - top ten in every regatta

Nick ROGERS and Joe GLANFIELD (GBR) - first at 2006 pre-Olympic event, eighth at 2007 World Championship, second at Athens

Gideon KLIGER and Ehud GAL (ISR) - fifth at 2006 pre-Olympic event, third at 2007 World Championship

Daeyoung KIM and Dongwoo lee (KOR) - second at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Women's 470

Elise RECHICHI and Tessa PARKINSON (AUS) - extremely fast in light air

Emmanuelle ROL and Anne-Sophie THILO (SUI) - great in light air, fifth at 2007 Europeans

Therese TORGERSSON and Vebdela SACHRISSON (SWE) - first at 2006 pre-Olympic event, fifth at 2007 World Championships, third at Athens Games

Ai KONDO and Haoko KAMATA (JPN) - fast in light air

Rusland TARAN and Olena PAKHOLCHYK (UKR) - most experienced team

Marcelien DE KONING and Lobke BERKHOUT (NED) - have won three World Championships in a row.

Star

Robert SCHEIDT and Bruno PRADA (BRA) - first at 2007 Worlds

Xavier ROHART and Pascal RAMBEAU (FRA) - second at 2007 Worlds, won 2003 and 2005 World Championships, world #1 crew

Fredrik LOOF and Anders EKSTROM (SWE) - eighth at 2007 World Championships, 2004 World Champions, smart in light air

Tornado

Roman HAGARA and Hans Peter STEINACHER (AUT) won Olympic gold medal in Athens and Sydney, third in 2006 pre-Olympic event, best light air team

Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ (ESP) - won the 2007 Worlds, world #2 crew

Xavier REVIL and Christophe ESPAGNON (FRA) - sailing well recently, good in light air

Francesco MARCOLINI and Edoardo BIANCHI (ITA) - sailing well and fast in these conditions.

Yngling

Sarah AYTON, Sarah WEBB and Pippa WILSON (GBR) - 2007 World Champions and world #2 crew, fourth at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Sally BARKOW, Carrie HOWE and Debbie CAPOZZI (USA) - World #1 crew, extremely consistent

Xiaqun SONG, Xiaoni LI and Yanli YU (CHN) - Third at 2006 pre-Olympic event

Sailing.org

(China Daily 08/15/2007 page24)