Dylan Fletcher is adamant he and Alain Sign can claim a 49er World Championship medal in Marseille – provided they do exactly what they did at the European equivalent in July.
Fletcher and Sign won their second European title in Denmark, having first tasted victory in Helsinki in 2011, since turning their attentions to a podium finish at the global gathering in France.
They will join six other British 49er crews at the world regatta in Marseille including London 2012 Olympians Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes and Dave Evans and Ed Powys.
Nic Asher and Stuart Bithell, both with experience in the 470, the former a two-time world champion and the latter an Olympic silver medallist from London 2012, are also in the fleet.
And Fletcher believes he and Sign can get the better of their British and world rivals if they rediscover the form that saw them dominate on the continent earlier this summer.
“The Europeans were a massive confidence boost for us as we enter the World Championships,” said Fletcher.
“If we can continue from where we left off, keep consistent and stick to our routines then I think we have every chance of a podium finish come the end of the week.
“We have had a good few months of solid training down in Weymouth and a few weeks in Falmouth where we had a range of conditions to test ourselves in.
“We have been working particular hard on our boat speed and on a few other areas so hopefully when we compete at the worlds all that hard work and effort will pay off.”
In addition to the 49er World Championships in Marseille, the 49erFX, a new class for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, will also have its global gathering.
Three female British crews will be in action – Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth, Frances Peters and Nicola Groves and London 2012 Olympian Kate Macgregor and Mary Rook.
And Dobson said: “It’s certainly a strange feeling that’s for sure entering a World Championships not feeling completely ‘polished’.
“But I don’t think anybody in the world is going to feel fully polished as no one has had enough time in the boat – we are still at the bottom of a very steep learning curve.
“Saying that, we feel like we are ready as we have been training hard over the past few months on certain areas and are pleased with our progress.”
© Sportsbeat 2013