With Rio qualification regattas, national trials and a testing ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit throughout the year the heat is on. And at 1000 local time on Monday 26 January, 2015’s ‘game time’ begins with the sounding of the starter’s gun at ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, Presented by Sunbrella.

More than 800 sailors from 63 nations racing across ten Olympic and three Paralympic events will light up Miami, Florida’s glorious Biscayne Bay. With ISAF Sailing World Cup Final Abu Dhabi qualification spots and valuable ranking points available the game will heat up in the sunshine state. Also on offer are qualification places to the next event of the series, ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres in France, from 20-26 April 2015.

470 Men
Forty five teams from 24 nations are registered to compete in the Men's 470 and quality is prevalent throughout the pack.

World Champions Mathew Belcher/Will Ryan have successfully started their 2015 regatta season by winning the North American Championships on Tuesday 19 January. The event served as a welcome warm-up event ahead of racing getting underway at ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami on 26-31 January.

Belcher/Ryan will be the ones to beat, whilst 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup champions Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion (FRA) will want to hold on to their title. 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao gold medallists Jordi Xammar and Joan Herp (ESP) will be looking to impress whilst Greece's Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis will certainly be in the running for top honours.

Belcher and Ryan missed the Sailing World Cup in Melbourne to compete at the ‘Brasil Copa de Vela’ at the Olympic venue in Rio de Janeiro instead. After winning in Brazil, as well as the North American Championships this week, and unbeaten since April last year, they will be the ones who will be chased.

“Will and I are in a great position and we are just really enjoying our level of sailing at the moment,” Mat Belcher said. “We are working hard to continually learn and develop new areas of our sailing together. We have plenty to learn and develop prior to Rio and Miami SWC provides this opportunity.

“We are looking forward to starting our 2015 season off well. As we get closer towards Rio 2016 these events slowly become more and more important for the teams. Miami, will see almost all the top 15 from last years worlds and the regatta will be a great opportunity for everyone to see where everyone is at.”

Top ranked US team and world #4 pairing are Stuart McNay/David Hughes. They missed the 470 North Americans to compete at Key West Race Week, but will be hotfooting it back to Miami and looking to return to the podium, having medaled at this event for two years running. The pair put together a strong 2014 campaign which saw them make the medal race at each major international 470 regatta, and take home four medals, including bronze at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final. Their 5th place finish at the Worlds in Santander was the best by a US men’s 470 team in 14 years.

470 Women
Eighteen nations will line up in the Women's 470 fleet in what is a mix of seasoned campaigners and fresh new teams. 2014 World Champions Lara Vadlau/Jolanta Ogar (AUT), Olympic champions Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL) and Olympic silver medallists Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark (GBR) will renew their rivalry. The trio shared the podium at the Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds as well as the 2014 Olympic Test Event with minimal separation between them.

Miami will be the first opportunity for the trio to test themselves against each other in 2015 which will make for some intriguing and insightful racing.

Defending 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champions are Great Britain’s Sophie Weguelin/Eilidh McIntyre who currently sit at #8 on the ISAF Sailing World Rankings.

The top USA team are Annie Haeger/Briana Provancha, and the pair see this year’s Miami event as a crucial step in their campaign.

“Having a good result here at ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami is important for helping us qualify to compete at this year’s Olympic Test Event in Rio, so that is definitely a goal for us,” said Provancha.

World #2 ranked Haeger and Provancha recorded a string of top finishes at major events last year, including medaling at ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères (France).

“All the best teams are here, and having so much talent come to Miami to compete is really a huge benefit to US sailors,” Provancha concluded.

Teams from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Ecuador, Finland, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey and the United States are competing in the 470 Men and Women fleets. CLICK HERE for the entry list.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Qualification

As well as podium finishes, also up for grabs in Miami are the all-important qualification places to the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi taking place from 27 October to 1 November 2015, and qualification places to the next event of the series ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres, 20-26 April 2015. CLICK HERE for the ISAF Sailing World Cup Qualification system.

FOLLOW ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami

Results
Results are available here – www.sailing.org/worldcup/results/index.php

Daily Summary
Daily news releases and results will be distributed via email and posted to the event website.

Live Tracking
The racing will be available to watch in 2D and 3D via the live tracking.

Click here to view live tracking.

Live Tracking via the Sailviewer-3D Tablet App will be available for devices with 7″ or greater screens.

Click here to download the iOS Application.
Click here to download the Android Application.

Video
Rights free news feeds containing interviews and b-roll of sailing action will be available from Wednesday 28 January through to Saturday 31 January on the ISAF FTP. A log Sheet will be attached. In addition, fully-produced highlight packages will be available from 26 to 31 January. These will contain interviews, action and results, including event graphics. For FTP login details, specific requests and native language interviews please contact ISAF TV using the following address – isaf.tv@isaf.com

For FTP login details contact the ISAF Communications Department. (marketing@isaf.com)

Photography
High resolution, editorial rights free images will be available to download on the ISAF FTP and via US Sailing’s Flickr.

Images
High resolution, free for editorial use images will be available to download view US Sailing’s Flickr account here. For specific requests please contact the ISAF Communications Department below.

Follow
ISAF Sailing World Cup website
ISAF Sailing World Cup Facebook
ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami Facebook

The @ISAFupdates and @SailingWCMiami (#SWCMiami15) Twitter accounts will be following the action throughout the week.

Sources: ISAF, RYA, US Sailing, Australian Sailing Team