The British Olympic Association (BOA) has made a statement of its ambition by naming nine sailors who will be medal contenders in Beijing in August as the first confirmed members of the Great Britain team. Eventually the team will comprise some 300 athletes competing in 22 sports.

Sailing is one of three sports, with cycling and rowing, in which Britain is a world leader. In Athens in 2004, Britain won two gold medals, a silver and two bronzes in sailing and Ben Ainslie, the Finn champion four years ago, will attend his fourth Games as one of the team’s most experienced Olympians.

The BOA also confirmed that Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb will be given the chance to defend their Olympic title in the Yngling class with Pippa Wilson. The women won the world championship in the boat last year.

Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes also won the world title in the 49er class. They will be joined in Beijing by Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, who won bronze in the World Championships in the Star, and Paul Goodison, three times a European champion in the Laser, Ainslie’s former boat.

“Sailing is one of our core sports, one which has medalled consistently over many years,” Simon Clegg, the BOA chief executive, said. In addition to Ainslie and the Yngling crew, Percy has Olympic pedigree, having won gold in the Finn in 2000.

Stephen Park, the RYA’s Olympic manager, said: “This marks the beginning of the home straight in sailing’s preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games, where we hope to surpass our target of three medals on the waters of Qingdao in August.” The Britain team’s nominations in the remaining six sailing classes will be made over the coming months.

Francis Joyon, the Frenchman who is attempting to break Dame Ellen MacArthur’s world record for a solo circumnavigation, made slow progress up the coast of Brazil yesterday but maintained a nine-day lead on MacArthur’s mark. Thomas Coville, his compatriot who abandoned his record attempt on Sunday with a broken crash box, continues to limp towards South Africa and should arrive in Cape Town on Friday or Saturday.