Dual Formula Windsurfing World Champion Wojtek Brzozowski headlines the lineup for the Neil Pryde Sail Melbourne Regatta (formerly the Victorian Championships), which gets underway off Elwood beach today.

The two-day regatta is a warm-up event for Sail Melbourne’s IFWC Formula Windsurfing Oceanic Continental and Australian FW Championships, which begins this Saturday and runs until Tuesday.

Brzozowski, who arrived last night in Melbourne in a very positive mood but tired after last minute preparations and a long direct direct from Poland, heads a quality fleet of over top 40 regional FW racers that will contest the two back to back events at the Melbourne venue for the coming December 2005 Worlds. Wojtek seemed very pleased with his first impressions of Melbourne, the venue and conditions. He has come out of winter hibernation and is using the trip Down Under as a reconnaissance mission for December’s IFWC World Championships, and to give his 2005 season an extra strong start.

“He’ll be using the next week of competition to check out both sailing and event location conditions and he’ll be reporting back to the Europeans on what to expect come December. It’s really sensational to have such an ambassodor of the sport take the effort to come out here, and we are really pleased to have the opportunity to host Wojtek and our other guests. Conditions are looking ideal for some great days of classic FW racing and having Wojtek here will really set the fleet alight.” said race director Ian Fox.

Other leading internationals include Denmark’s Jesper Vesterstrom – the blonde Viking supermodel of the European FW circuit – who has just won the regional NSW FW Championship in Sydney last week and finished second to Australia’s Steve Allen in last year’s event; Wearn Haw Tan from Singapore; together with Jono Squires and hot IMCO racer JP Tobin from New Zealand, two of the group of top Kiwis also here to secure qualifying spots for the December Worlds.

Allen, the reigning Continental and Australian Champion from 2004, has remained in Poland for the impending birth of his second child.

But watch out for the other Aussies ; Sam Parker, Mike Nelson, Brett Morris (from NSW), Sean O’Brien (QLD), Dave Morehead, Steve Charles (both from TAS) and James Cooper, Martin Love and Matt Noonan (from VIC) will be flying the flag for Australia this week and won’t be laying down in the face of strong competition.

In the women’s event, rising international star Allison Shreeve (NSW) will go head to head with reigning Australian Formula Windsurfing champion Anna Davis (VIC) and New Zealand’s youngster Hayley Thom.

Oldest competitor in the fleet (63 years !) is the popular and youthful Tibor Ferenzy, who with international experience can still be a demon to the top mark in light wind conditions.

Saturday’s Oceanic Continental Championships is one of the five championships held in each ISAF region of the World at which competitors can earn qualifying points for the World Championships. The top five placegetters will automatically qualify for the December Worlds. And all placegetters in both the Oceanic Champs and the preceding Neil Pryde regatta will score world ranking points that count towards qualifying for the December Worlds.

Racing gets underway off Elwood beach today at 11:00 am. A maximum of four races will be held each day. The two-day Neil Pryde warm-up event comprises eight races, while the Oceanic Continental and Australian Championships, held over four days from Saturday to Tuesday, will comprise a maximum of 15 races.

Results and press releases are available online at:

www.sailmelbourne.com.au.