Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) scholarship holder Tom Slingsby will lead the Australian team into action when the 2010 Laser World Championship commences today in Hayling Island, Great Britain. 

Slingsby has had a great 2010 winning the Australian Laser Championship, all three rounds of the ISAF Sailing World Cup he contested and finishing third at the 2010 Laser European Championship.

Slingsby’s ISAF Sailing World Cup round wins were in Holland (May), Germany (June) and most recently in Weymouth, England where he came out on top of a massive 180 boat fleet.

Australian Laser coach Michael Blackburn believes his Australian sailors are capable of getting amongst the medals despite the strong opposition at the world championships.

“We’ve got some really talented young guys in the Aussie team and, having witnessed the likes of Slingsby make it to the top, these guys understand the effort and determination needed to be the best,” Blackburn said.

“I’ve seen marked improvements in all the guys this year, they’ve really dug in and that’s created more internal strength within the group.”

Australians competing at the 2010 Laser World Championship are as follows: Tom Slingsby, Ashley Brunning, James Burman, Tom Burton, Ryan Palk, Klade Hauschildt, Ashley Lloyd, Ryan Stoddart, Jared West, Ki-raphael Sulkowski, Thor Schoenhoff and Sean Bly.