Thirty-nine sailors and 20 boats will qualify for the Games in the 2.4 mR, SKUD 18 and Sonar classes.

A total of 124 sailors from 24 countries are in Canada for six days of competition at the World Championships, which start today.

Great Britain's Helena Lucas, gold medallist in the 2.4 mR class at London 2012, is keen to make amends for the 2013 World Championships.

Leading the field going into the final regatta, a problem with her boat forced her to abandon the race, leaving her in ninth place.

She will be up against 47 other boats in Halifax.

"I'm expecting a tough event," said Lucas.

"All the top guys will be there and obviously it is the first selection regatta to qualify your country for a place at the Paralympic Games in Rio, so that's the priority and it would mean a great deal to get that box ticked.

"It's also a great chance for me to check in against the rest of the 2.4mR fleet and see how I compare with them two years out from the Games."

Among the likely main protagonists in the SKUD 18 class is the Australian pairing of Liesl Tesch and Daniel Fitzgibbon, who won London 2012 gold.

Aleksander Wang-Hansen is keen to secure early qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympics in the SKUD 18 class with team mates Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen
©Getty Images



In the Sonar event, Norwegian trio Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen, bronze medallists at the London 2012 Games, are also eyeing an early qualification spot for Rio 2016.

"We realise that it's important to qualify as soon as possible and have our place guaranteed in case we encounter problems in the next round of qualifiers," said Wang-Hansen.

"If we don't, we know we will have another chance, but not managing a top-seven finish now doesn't bode well for our ambitions for Rio."

The first eight boats in the single-crew 2.4 mR class, the top five two-person, mixed-crew SKUD18 boats and the top seven triple-crewed Sonar boats will all be awarded places at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

No country can qualify more than once per class, and it will be their respective Paralympic Committees that finally select the athletes that will take to the start line at the Games.

Another 35 sailors and 18 boats will have the chance to qualify for Rio 2016 at the 2015 World Championships in Melbourne.

Host nation Brazil is automatically allocated a place in each class.