KEY POINTS:
New Zealand crews are among nine nations vying for the last four Beijing Olympic berths when the Tornado yachting world championships are sailed off Auckland's Takapuna beach next week.
With 50 entries confirmed from 21 different countries, the championships double as the final Olympic qualifier for the multi-hull class.
Twelve of the maximum 16 Olympic Tornado berths have already been decided.
New Zealand entries include former Olympic medallists Aaron McIntosh, Bruce Kendall and Rex Sellers.
McIntosh, a world champion and Olympic bronze medallist as a windsurfer, switched to the Tornado in 2003. He sails this regatta with Mark Kennedy as crew.
Kendall, who sails with Blair Tuke, won Olympic bronze in 1984 in Los Angeles and Olympic gold in 1988 in Seoul.
Rex Sellers, 57, who won Olympic gold (1984 Los Angeles) and Olympic silver (1988 Seoul) in the Tornado class, is back on the cat sailing with his son Brett.
The world championship fleet includes world No 1s Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby, of Australia, Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher, of Austria, who won Olympic gold in 2004 and 2000, and defending world champions Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz, of Spain.
- NZPA
