Gamagori is welcoming the 2017 World Champions in the Men's Skiff (49er), Men's Windsurfer (RS:X), Men's One Person Dinghy (Laser) and the Men's and Women's Two Person Dinghy (470).

Challenged by a 5-6 knot breeze over the first two days of the World Cup Series event, the champions have used all their experience to position themselves at the top of the pack or firmly in medal contention.

Poland's Agnieszka Skrzypulec and Irmina Gliszczynska finished tenth at the Rio 2016 but their decision to compete in Gamagori and target Tokyo 2020 was made well before their final race in Rio.

"We made a decision during the Olympic Games in Rio 2016 that we want to prepare for the next Olympic Games. We then started to focus on the next Olympic Games right after Rio," explained Skrzypulec.

The Polish sailors focused on the goal ahead of them and they achieved success almost immediately by claiming their first world title in July in Thessaloniki, Greece. They have transferred their display from Greece across to the World Cup Series in Japan and hold an early lead after three races.

"The training has helped us to adjust to the conditions and we are using the skills, which we have recently learnt, in our races," continued Skrzypulec. "The main focus is to keep improving on the small detail and sailing tactics. We are pleased with our progress so far."

Skrzypulec and Gliszczynska finished second in the only Women's 470 race of the day and have a one point lead over Switzerland's Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthaler.

Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) claimed the Men's 470 world title for the fourth time as a team in alongside the Polish racers in Greece.

They held the overnight Gamagori lead but slipped to third after an 11th, which they discard, in the single race of the day. However, they are just two points off Tetsuya Isozaka and Akira Takayanagi (JPN) and Matteo Capurro and Matteo Puppo (ITA), who share the lead.

Racing is scheduled to resume at 11:00 local time on Thursday 19 October.

Live Medal Races on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 October will bring the week to a close before the series heads to Miami, USA.

Source: World Sailing