Australian Sailing Team athletes have arrived in Hyeres, France and are keen to take on international competition at the 51^st French Olympic Sailing Week (27 April – 4 May).

The Aussie laser fleet is headed by Tom Burton, the Rio 2016 gold medalist and bronze medal winner at the World Cup in Miami, along with 2018 Male Australian Sailor of the Year, Matt Wearn.

The regatta promises to be hotly contested with a number of top global laser athletes coming to compete on Mediterranean waters. These include New Zealand’s Rio 2016 bronze medalist Sam Meech and a large British team featuring Enoshima World Cup Series champion Elliot Hanson and 2016 Rio Olympian, Nick Thompson.

In the Laser Radial, Australian sailors will be looking to consolidate and improve on their results from the recent World Cup in Genoa, where Mara Stransky finished 6^th overall in a 67-strong fleet.

Hyeres is set to provide athletes with a valuable reality check of their standings against the best sailors in the world as they prepare for the Olympic Games in Japan next year.

Racing starts on Monday, April 29, at 1200 hrs (8:00pm AEST). Follow the Australian Team for daily updates via website and social media channels, see addresses below.

About SOF: After 7 years as part of Sailing World Cup series, the event is back this year as "SOF", French Olympic week. Every year, the Semaine Olympique Française welcomes around 800 competitors from 60 different countries. The racing will happen across the same 10 classes that were selected for Tokyo Olympic Games.

Event website: sof.ffvoile.fr/

Full entry list HERE

Australian Sailing Team entrants:

LASER:

Tom Burton

Matt Wearn

Luke Elliot

Finn Alexander

Mitch Kennedy

LASER RADIAL:

Zoe Thompson

Elyse Ainsworth

Mara Stransky

Follow the Australian Sailing Team

Web: www.australiansailingteam.com.au

Instagram: @aussailingteam

Facebook: @aussailingteam

Twitter: @aussailingteam

YouTube: AusSailingTeam