The Irish squad in Australia will take a well deserved Christmas break following the successful start to their eight week tour. Their rest will be short-lived though as the main objective of the tour is just two weeks away in Melbourne where all the Olympic classes are holding a combined World Championship series.

The four-day Sydney pre-Olympic regatta ended last weekend with another set of positive results. Single-handers proved best with Maria Coleman in the Europe class following-on her Brisbane fourth place with a 16th place, 10th by nation, in this Grade 1 event that had a larger fleet attending. Laser sailor Jon Lasenby also put in an impressive performance with a 17th place in the Gold Fleet and 12th by nation.

David Burrows, in the Finn, appears to have overcome earlier injury worries and is the most consistent of the three Finn challengers with a 10th place overall, ninth by nation. Although the Sydney event was a Grade 2 regatta for the class, all the major players were in action and the Malahide sailor's prospects for Melbourne are bright. This only adds to the work of John Driscoll, 17th in Sydney, and Colin Chapman (25th), who must play catch-up to reach Burrows' standard.

In other classes, Tom Fitzpatrick and David McHugh put in a 20th place. Gerbil Owens and Philip Lawton ended down the fleet but are gaining valuable experience in the class.

In the women's fleet, Laura Dillon and Ciara Peelo are still waiting to break into form following a 33rd at Sydney. The 49er Skiff crew of Mel Collins and Fraser Brown had a `bad regatta', dropping from their Brisbane high back into the low ranks of the Silver fleet in Sydney.

The New Year sees the Olympic selection process begin in earnest before names are submitted to the OCI by the ISA as recommendations for the national team.