In a major coup for the event, the Sail Melbourne International Regatta has been selected to host the 49er and 29er World Championships in 2008, adding to its already impressive 2008 line-up of the Finn Gold Cup, 470 Mens and Womens World Championships as well as being chosen as the first event for the inaugural ISAF World Cup Series.

These events will all be sailed as part of the Olympic and Invited Classes hosted by Sail Melbourne each year since its inauguration in 1994, and are sure to bring back memories of 1999, when Sail Melbourne hosted nine World Championships just prior to the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

With the 2008 Beijing Olympics looming, Sail Melbourne management expects all the top 49er sailors such as the Olympian Sibello brothers Pietro and Gianfranco from Italy, and the second and third World Ranked British pairs Chris Draper/Simon Hiscocks and Stevie Morrison/Ben Rhodes vying not only for the Championship win, but also a place on their National Olympic Sailing Team.

The venue, Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club, features flat water, beach launching, unrestricted racing areas, excellent prevailing sea breezes and a perfect climate, which will make it the ideal location for what is certain to be two superb Championships.

In fact, the race area at Sorrento is large enough for four separate race courses to be set predominately in front of the clubhouse with no obstructions and no shipping traffic, making racing equable for competitors and user-friendly for spectators.

The brand-new clubhouse of SSCBC will provide outstanding facilities for both sailors and spectators, with an extensive viewing deck, onsite catering, function rooms and will easily accommodate sailors, coaches and supporters.

Race Management will be under the guidance of the 49er/29er class association Principal Race Officer who will be joined by locals Kevin and Ross Wilson, Bill Bell and Alan Carlisle, all of whom are International Race Officers with significant Olympic and World Championship experience.