"I can sail them on my own without a crew of 10," said Leask, who owns a 40-foot ocean racing yacht.

He and fellow South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club member, Brett Holly, will rival each other and the best from overseas when they contest the 40th contender world titles starting tomorrow at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron base in Brisbane.

Designed by the late Ben Lexcen, mastermind of the winged keel credited with Australia's first America's Cup victory in 1983, the contenders are solo-sailor vessels and a handful, according to Leask.

"Most people I know won't sail them because they think they're too wild," said the 42-year-old, who started racing contenders less than two years ago.

"It has taken me a whole year of pretty intense practice just to be able to get the thing 'round a course without capsizing."

Far from eyeing victory or even a podium at the world titles, his goal is simply to finish in the top half of the 60-sailor fleet.

Holly, who has raced contenders for four years and previously contested a world title in the 12-foot OK class of dinghies, aims to finish in the top 25.

Contesting the Australian titles this week in the lead-up to the world event, Holly and Leask had to battle much more than simply the top local and international competition.

Gusts of 20 to 25 knots on Monday forced race two of the world-title warm-ups to be abandoned.

Holly, 35, said strong currents and shallow water also added to the challenge.

"We only had the one race [on Monday] and then abandoned the second because a few people were in strife with a bit of wind up here," he said.

"Our cut-off is at 25 [knots] but the sea state here is not user-friendly very lumpy. It's a very shallow bay."

Conditions more conducive to racing are forecast for the world titles, which finish on Tuesday.

In other news, Wangi sailor Nathan Outteridge and crewman Iain Jensen got their 49er world title defence off to the perfect start on Tuesday, winning two of the three first races at the 2010 event being held in the Bahamas.