Tom Slingsby has declared Great Britain the benchmark at the Sydney SailGP and the chance for another win on their rivals' home waters gives the Brits extra motivation.
Overseen by Olympic legend Sir Ben Ainslie as chief executive, Great Britain has won the SailGP's last two events on Australian waters, most recently the inaugural Perth regatta that opened the new season last month.
Great Britain beat the second-placed Australian boat in the final of that event on Fremantle Harbour, having won the Sydney SailGP in 2025.
The British boat also denied Australia a grand jackpot of $US2 million ($A2.8 million) by winning last season's grand final in Abu Dhabi, where Slingsby's boat placed second.
Having won the high-speed sailing league's first three seasons, the Aussies now look at Great Britain as the catamaran to beat.
"It's no doubt that they're the top team at the moment," said skipper Slingsby.
"The way they finished last season was really impressive. They got on a run and no one could really stop them."
This season, Australia and Great Britain sit on equal points atop the leaderboard after the Aussies took out a gusty and injurious Auckland SailGP earlier this month.
But the Brits can begin laying plans to overtake them when the third event of the season begins on Sydney Harbour this evening.
"Always that Aussie-Brit rivalry is big in sport, it doesn't matter what the sport is," four-time Olympic gold medallist Ainslie told AAP.
"They obviously feel pretty punchy about sailing on home waters, so why not? We did it last year.
"It'd be fun. It's extra motivation."
This month's win in heavy Kiwi conditions marked the first time Australia had won a SailGP regatta since clinching the same Auckland event in January last year.
Conditions aren't likely to be as blustery in Sydney, where a moderate easterly is predicted, but the win has nevertheless encouraged the hosts.
"It did feel like a monkey was lifted off our back," said Slingsby.
"We've got amazing sailors on our team and to not win an event in anything for a year was really tough for us all.
"We were all thinking about it a lot, even if we weren't speaking about it openly, I think it was weighing on us."
