"It's nice for my crew and me to be the current Farr 40 World Champions," said Vincenzo Onorato of Milan Italy, days before the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds warm-up regatta this week.

"But I will try to forget all of that when I begin the first race. Pressure is part of the game. If you are not able to deal with that, you better go cruising."

The adjectives that describe Farr 40 Class racing - intense, competitive, unrelenting - can be used to describe any one of the competitors. But especially for two-time and current world champion Onorato, who is focused only on racing during the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship.

Among the 33 entered teams, 10 countries are represented, with the bulk of the fleet consisting of American and Italian entries. At the top of the list for favorites is Mascalzone Latino, Onorato's entry. He will have his work cut out for him as there are three past world champions among the fleet .

USA 's Jim Richardson's two-time winner Barking Mad (2004/1998) is one as with Nerone (ITA, 2003) co-owned by Antonio Sodo Migliori and Massimo Mezzaroma. Alinghi (SUI, 2001) owned by Ernesto Bertarelli is another past world champion who was also the 2007 runner-up. There are also a dozen other teams capable of winning the coveted title.

"I do not expect anything less than to have great competition," said Onorato of the fleet.

"The Farr 40 is the best class in the world and to drive a Farr 40 is far and away the second most beautiful thing in the world. I love that boat!"

The sentimental favorite for locals may be Richardson, who won the Class's first world championship, also held in Miami in 1998. Barking Mad has retained a core group of professional and amateur crew since the 2004 world championship win, including tactician Terry Hutchinson.

Earlier this year they collected back-to-back first place finishes at the Key West Race Week and the Acura Miami Grand Prix, which many see as an early predictor to the Worlds.

As always, the fleet is home to notable professional sailors with America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race one-design fame. In addition to Barking Mad, some of the stellar names are Adrian Stead on Mascalzone Latino; Paul Cayard on Steve & Fred Howe's Warpath (USA); Gavin Brady on Rod Jabin's Ramrod (USA); Brad Butterworth on Alinghi; Ian Walker on Doug Douglass's Goombay Smash (USA); Ray Davies onboard Peter de Ridder's Mean Machine (MON); Vasco Vascotto on Nerone (ITA); and Bouwe Bekking serving as tactician aboard HRH Crown Prince Frederik's Nanoq (DEN).

For Cayard, a Rolex Yachtsman of the Year and Rolex Testimonee (since 1998), the goal is simple. "Our goal is to win the World Championship," said Cayard, who rejoined Warpath after sailing with the team in the 2005 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds in Sydney Australia where they finished fourth.

"We have put a bit more time into preparing for the 2008 World Championship, which will undoubtedly help us. We received a new boat for Acura Miami Grand Prix last month and finished third there."

"No doubt others have the same goal and the class is very competitive. So winning won't be easy, but that is what makes winning special."

Warpath has been competing for the past five years with notable top-10 finishes in major Class regattas. These include a ninth-place at the 2007 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds, winning the 2007 Farr 40 Class North American Championship and a fourth-place at the 2005 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds.

"It seems to me that the class is the most competitive it's been," said Steve Howe.