The Australian Sailing Team has a new world number one with Australian Women’s Match Racing Team skipper Nicky Souter jumping to the top of the latest Women’s Match Racing world ranking list.

Souter’s rise to the top of the Women’s Match Racing rankings sees Australia jump to the top of the overall Olympic class number one rankings list with three out of the 10 number one crews hailing from Australia.

The Australian Women’s Match Racing crew join 2010 470 World Champions and ISAF Sailing World Cup Champions Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page and 2010 Laser World Champion Tom Slingsby at the top of their respective classes.

“We’re really excited with the news, it was a pleasant surprise to wake up to this morning,” said Souter. “This is the first time that an Australian crew has been ranked number one in Women’s Match Racing and it’s showing that all of the hard work is paying off.”

The Australian women’s team jumped from fourth to first, ahead of Lucy Macgregor (GBR) and Claire Leroy (FR), with just eight points separating Souter and Macgregor.

Yachting Australia High Performance Director Peter Conde said that having three Australian crews ranked number one in the world was a good indication that the team is progressing well towards the 2012 London Olympic Games.

“The last year has been a great one for the Australian Sailing Team with two World Championship wins, a Silver and two Bronzes, and 16 ISAF Sailing World Cup medals, including four Golds and a Silver at the recent event in Weymouth, England – the sailing venue for the 2012 London Olympic Games,” he said.

“With less than two years to go until the 2012 London Olympic Games all of our crews are stepping up the intensity and we are looking forward to more strong results in the future.”