Defending International One Design (IOD) World Champion Penny Simmons will rest his title on the line at next week's annual IOD World Championships in Maine.

Simmons heads a local contingent comprised of seasoned veteran skippers Jordy Walker, Bob Duffy and International Race Week IOD champion Craig Davis.

Simmons has competed in 22 World Championships and is a five-time title holder.

The local skipper has previously savoured success in San Francisco, Norway, Sweden, Long Island Sound and on local surf last year when the Island played host to the annual championships.

The 2003 IOD World Championships officially get underway on Sunday in Northeast Harbour, Maine, where a total of 22 boats from Scotland, USA, Sweden, Norway and Bermuda will vie for world supremacy.

Bermuda have dominated the annual regatta in recent years and are again heavily favoured to do well at next week's championships.

The local contingent, along with their crews depart for the US on Friday.

"We have raced on Northeast Harbour before on three occasions and we've always been competitive," said Simmons, who will be accompanied onboard by wife Sacha, D'Arcy Hilgenberg, Peter Terceria and Steven King.

"It's really an unusual place to sail because it is not a straightforward normal type course," he added. "It's such that you have to sail around little Islands and the winds can be very light and fickle up there at certain times."

Simmons reckons the Americans will be tough to beat in their own back yard.

"In the 22 boat fleet which they are going to have on this occasion, I would venture to say that there will be eight to ten people who might easily be able to win the event," he said. "Those who have a certain amount of local knowledge and live there and race there will probably have a little bit of an upper hand. "But the Bermuda team which is going is a very good one and one that I know can perform very well. They are all good sailors and with a little bit of luck I think that any one of them can win it.

"It would be nice to see some new blood at the top of the fleet and I would like to see one another Bermudian bring this trophy back home again."

Duffy, meanwhile, has been a winning boat on seven occasions as a crew member. However, he's yet to win a world championship as a skipper in his own right.

He will be joined onboard by wife Janice, Kevin Horsefield, Matthew Cairney and Sue Wyatt.

"Actually, we haven't all sailed together yet," said Duffy yesterday. "So it's going to be a very fast learning experience for us."

With decades of sailing experience under his belt, Walker is really looking forward to competing overseas again. His best finish in the world championships came about in 1975 sailing on Long Island Sound where he placed third.

"We are looking forward to perhaps joining Penny in the upper ranks and helping him to bring the trophy back," he said yesterday.

"If one of us can't do it, then we would like him to do it."

Walker will be accompanied onboard by crew Lisa Spurling, Irene Conlon, Sally Longmire and Robin Porteus.

"We have a sterling crew and they are going to keep us in order and get us into the front of the fleet as opposed to what we achieved a couple of years ago when I had an all male crew," he added.