Six Bay of Plenty sailors have made the 18-strong NZL Sailing team, announced this week.

Peter Burling, Molly Meech, Sam Meech,Andrew Murdoch, Thomas Saunders and Jason Saunders will represent the Bay of Plenty in the NZL Sailing Team, which is made up of New Zealand's top Olympic campaigners.

There is a strong Bay of Plenty presence in the national squad.

Yachting New Zealand's High Performance programme director Jez Fanstone says it's nice to reflect on a stellar year for New Zealand's Olympic class sailors.

'New Zealand is 2013's top performing nation, in terms of Olympic class world championships. It's a nice place to be, and this team is undeniably young and talented.”

Jez says it's going to be a long road to Rio de Janeiro in 2016 for the Olympics, which is what the team is ultimately aiming towards.

'Our ultimate goal is Olympic medals – and it's important that we remain focussed on achieving that as we look ahead into 2014. The competition will tighten up; our rivals will get better – we need to stay on the top of our game,” says Jez.

'I am very excited about this group of sailors and I know their coaches and support staff are too.”

Many named in the squad have made the top 20 per cent in their respective classes, world championships or pinnacle events 'and have shown steadiness of performance during the year in other championships,” says Jez.

Included in the team are New Zealand's 2012 Olympic medalists Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (women's 470), and Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (49er) – both pairs choosing to campaign again and opening their 2016 crusades in fine form by each claiming their respective 2013 world championship crowns.

Securing the 49erFX World Championship sees the young pairing of Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech entering the spotlight, with their naming in the NZL Sailing team being a first for them.

2014 Sailing team

49er (men's skiff) – Peter Burling and Blair Tuke

49er (men's skiff) – Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski

49erFX (women's skiff) – Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech

Women's 470 (double-handed dinghy) – Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie

Men's 470 (double-handed dinghy) - Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox Finn

(heavy-weight men's dinghy) – Andrew Murdoch Finn

(heavy-weight men's dinghy) – Josh Junior

Laser (men's dinghy) – Andy Maloney

Laser (men's dinghy) – Sam Meech

Laser (men's dinghy) – Thomas Saunders

Women's RS:X (windsurfer) – Natalia Kosinska

Nacra 17 (mixed multihull) – Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders

2014 Key Events

• 2014 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland, February 1-4, 2014.
• 2014 ISAF World Championship in Santander, Spain, September 8-20, 2014.
• ISAF Sailing World Cup 2013/2014 regattas in Miami (USA), Mallorca (Spain) and Hyeres (France).
• EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup 2014 regattas in Lake Garda (Italy), Medemblik (the Netherlands), Weymouth (UK), Kiel (Germany) and La Rochelle (France).