Great Britain's sailing heroes will be out in force this week as they face their rivals for the first time on the 2012 Olympic waters.

This year's Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta is the first time medal winners from around the world will turn out to compete in Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour, Dorset - the venues for the sailing events in 2012.

It is also the first time Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, one of the first venues to be ready for the Olympics, will play host to so many international stars.

About 100 Skandia Team GBR members will be competing against their international rivals, including gold medal winners in Beijing Paul Goodison, Andrew Simpson, Iain Percy and Pippa Wilson.

More than 700 competitors in 500 boats will be battling it out in 10 Olympic classes - Laser, Laser Radial, Finn, men's and women's NeilPryde RS:X windsurfing, men's and women's 470, 49er, Star and Elliott 6m women's match racing - and three Paralympic classes - 2.4mr, Skud-18, Sonar - every day this week.

Other international names to watch include Australia's 470 Beijing 2008 gold medallists Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson and fellow Aussies Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, winners of this year's 49er World Championships.

Zach Railey, of the United States, silver medallist in Beijing and at the 2009 Finn Gold Cup, goes in the Finn, along with Croatia's Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic, the European champion and world number one.

The women's Laser Radial fleet includes Finland's Sari Multala, who won the World Championship last month.

RYA Olympic manager Stephen Park said: "In sailing there is no substitute for experience in the venue when it comes to winning medals.

"The Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in our home waters of Weymouth and Portland provides Skandia Team GBR with a fantastic opportunity to line up with the best in the world and gain that all-important knowledge and racing time in the venue where we hope to be successful again when Games are upon us in less than three years' time."

It is the fourth and largest RYA Sail for Gold Regatta so far, with 240 boats from 11 countries attending last year but most Olympians staying away due to the Beijing Games that year.

Medal racing takes place on the final Saturday with large screens tracking the action and live commentary for those on shore.