Tauranga sailors Jason Saunders and Peter Burling are a step closer to the NZ Olympic team having been selected for the Olympic Test Event at Weymouth in August.

Teams announced today include 470 sailors Paul Snow-Hansen and Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in the 49er.

Peter Burling is named in the NZ Olympic Test Team.

Representatives are announced in seven of the 10 Olympic classes with announcements in the remaining three classes to be made following June's Sail for Gold Regatta, also at Weymouth.

The following sailors are selected.

Laser: Andrew Murdoch
Laser Radial: Sara Winther
Women's 470: Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie
Men's 470: Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders
Star: Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk
Finn: Dan Slater
49er: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke

Selections in the Women's Match Racing, Men's RS:X and Women's RS:X events will be made after the 2011 Sail for Gold Regatta which runs June 6-11.
The Olympic Test Event, also known as the ‘Pre-Olympics' is staged at the same time and venue as next year's Olympic Games Regatta, giving organisers and national teams an opportunity to fine-tune their preparations.
Yachting New Zealand selectors will continue to monitor sailor performance in the on-going process towards selecting the 2012 Olympic Sailing Team.

Places for next year are undecided with the earliest possible selections being made after the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship with others decided in the months leading up to the Games.
Other major Olympic class regattas including the ISAF Sailing World Cup Series events and the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships in Perth later this year allow for multiple entries from one country in each event. In contrast the Olympic Test Event – like the Olympic Games – allows only one entry per country in each of the ten events.
'The Olympic Test Event is our chance for a full dress rehearsal before next year's Olympics,” says YNZ Olympic Programme Manager Jez Fanstone.

'Our aim is to be the best prepared we can be come August 2012, and this event is an important part of that process.
'It's about knowledge gathering, the opportunity to work together as a team and to fine-tune things as we work towards Weymouth 2012.

'We'll be testing our people and plans both on the water and off the water.”
Between now and August the selected sailors and other members of the NZL Sailing Team will be competing at various ISAF Sailing World Cup Series Regattas including Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma (2-9 April), French Olympic Sailing Week in Hyeres (22-29 April), Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik (24-29 May), Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth (5-11 June) and Kiel Week in Germany (18-22 June).
Another major mark on the 2011 calendar for our Olympic campaigners is the ISAF Sailing World Championships on from 3-18 December in Perth bringing together all 10 Olympic Class World Championship events (each staged separately in other years) in what will potentially be the largest gathering of Olympic class sailors ever. The December event is significant on the road to the Olympic Games as 75 per cent of national qualification is allocated on performance at this regatta.