The man who claimed an upset victory in last year's King Edward VII Gold Cup says Russell Coutts is "the one to beat" this time.

Jesper Radich, who begins the long road to defending his title today, has earmarked the six-time Gold Cup winner as the top dog in the 2003 championship.

"It's Coutts. If you take him down then you're looking very, very good," surmised the Dane, referring to the New Zealand skipper who this year completed a hat-trick of successes in the coveted America's Cup.

However, the 28-year-old noted there's "such an amazing line-up" for the event that he could "mention ten names who would stand a very good chance of winning. And I could include my own name because I believe in myself and we're here to win," declared Radich.

"I think our chances are good. We are doing really well but we're going to be meeting guys who are so good. I don't know how many world, Olympic and America's Cup champions you have out there but it's definitely a lot.

"It's great to be here and every match we win we will be very pleased. I know we are defending champions which means we can sail these boats and we have a good history behind us so we will use that to say `Focus, we can actually do it. So let's go for it'."

Radich, who beat his compatriot Jes Gram-Hansen 3-1 in the 2002 final, is entrusting his fate to the same crew which accompanied him last year. However, he has only practised in International One Designs (IODs) once since his Gold Cup win - for three hours in Sweden two weeks ago.

As he takes to Hamilton Harbour against Italian qualifier Paolo Cian, the reigning champion will no doubt be under the microscope. He is not bothered though. In fact, he is looking forward to being in the hot seat.

"I think I have reached a level where I like to have some pressure now because it motivates me to focus and do my very best," he explained.

"Sometimes we have events where I have lost a bit of focus so I really like pressure. It makes me a better sailor."