As competitors took to the water yesterday for the practice rounds of the King Edward VII Gold Cup, dockside talk centred on who might be the favourite. The answer was easy: James Spithill.

The 27-year-old Australian is the reigning event champion. Last year he rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Russell Coutts, the event?s all-time leading winner with seven victories. The year before that he lost to Coutts, 2-1, in a series shortened by a tropical storm.

?That was nice to get one on Coutts,? said Spithill. ?We owed him from the year before.?

Spithill was a raw 19 years old when in 2000 he became the youngest man ever to helm an America?s Cup Class sloop.

Now he?s the helmsman of Italy?s Luna Rossa Challenge, considered among the top three challengers for next year?s Cup, and in August he was awarded the Yachting Australia Male Sailor of the Year award for the first time.

This week he?s sailing with Magnus Augustson, Torben Grael and Christian Kamp ? all members of Luna Rossa. Augustson crewed for Spithill in last year?s win. Spithill, however, doesn?t see himself as a favourite.

?We haven?t done a match race since Brazil in March,? said the skipper. ?I don?t consider us favourites. I felt a little rusty out there in practice.?

One team capable of making a run at Spithill is Jes Gram-Hansen?s crew from Italy?s Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia syndicate. Gram-Hansen won the event in 2004 when he was tactician for Russell Coutts.

This week he?s sailing in his seventh Gold Cup with Pierluigi de Felice and long-time crew members Rasmus Kostner and Chresten Plinius.

?There are good guys here,? said Kostner. ?It may not be the top of the line, but it will be tough racing especially if the conditions are light.?

There are plenty of other skippers with a chance to pull off victory. Sailors such as Chris Law, Staffan Lindberg, Mathieu Richard and Ian Williams have experience and talent to make a run. Lindberg (third), Richard (sixth) and Williams (eighth) all placed in the top eight last year.

Then there?s Bermuda?s own Paula Lewin and Blythe Walker who will be hoping to make a run at the championship.

The Gold Cup is stage four of the 2006-?07 World Match Racing Tour, the world?s leading professional sailing series. The events of the World Tour determine the ISAF Match Racing World Champion.

Light winds and rain showers dominated yesterday?s practice rounds of the Gold Cup, but the wind is expected to pick up as the week progresses.

Forecasters are predicting south-westerly winds between eight and 12 knots into the weekend, ideal conditions for match-racing.

?The best match-racing is in eight to 12 knots,? said American Jon Singsen, competing in his second Gold Cup.

?After that it?s just damage control. The boats are cool when it pipes up, but it can be wild downwind.?

The 58th annual running of the professional match-racing regatta on Hamilton Harbour has 16 teams entered from around the world.

Ten nations are represented this week, not including the two Bermudians, with the most entries, three, coming from the US.

Racing is scheduled to start daily at 9.00 a.m.. Today and tomorrow will see the two round robins completed.

The 16 teams have been split into two groups of eight. Each will sail a single round robin with the top four from each group advancing to the quarter-finals.

The quarter-finals are scheduled for Friday, the semi-finals on Saturday and the final and petit final on Sunday.

Racing can be viewed from Albuoy?s Point daily and there?s no charge for admission.

On Sunday the , a replica of a mid-19th century ballyhoo schooner, will take spectators to watch the racing. Admission is $60 for one of the two final rounds or $100 for the full day. Reservations can be made through captain Mark Soares at 334-7245.

Running concurrently with the Gold Cup is the Junior Gold Cup for international junior sailors.

Thirty-seven sailors, including 12 from overseas, will sail four races per day starting tomorrow on the Great Sound. The final day will be Sunday, a day which will witness the championship sailed in Hamilton Harbour during the final rounds of the senior Gold Cup.