Sydney team takes shape

The agony continues for some of Britain's Olympic contenders after a further four classes were filled yesterday by the Royal Yachting Association and ratified by the British Olympic Association.

Going to Sydney are the Soling trio of Andy Beadsworth, Richard Sydenham and Barry Parkin, the 49er duo of Ian Barker and Simon Hiscocks and the singlehanders Iain Percy in the Finn and Nick Dempsey on the windsurfer.

The women's 470 will be decided at next month's World Championship in Hungary and the same applies to the men after Chris Draper and Dan Newman won the Chernikeeff Olympic trials in Weymouth on Monday by just one point from Nick Rogers and Jo Glanfield.

The Tornado catamaran pair will be chosen after the European championship in Italy, and the delay in selecting the woman windsurfer representative is because Britain still has to qualify for the Games.

Explaining why the selectors had different policies for the equally hard-fought 49ers and 470s John Derbyshire, the RYA's Olympic manager, said that while Draper and Newman had improved they still "need to demonstrate their ability in international competition".