Thirty nine boats from the 13 teams and seven nationalities have been busy with their final preparation and practising on the Solent for Monday's first races in the 2006 Rolex Commodores' Cup.

Crews competing in the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial team racing event for cruiser-racers are largely Corinthian, although 25% can be professional under the International Sailing Federation's crew categorisation system. Thus, on the Irish Orange big boat, Colm Barrington's Magic Glove the line-up includes two sailors fresh from last weekend's finish of the Volvo Ocean Race Rob Greenhalgh, crewman on race winner ABN AMRO One and Pirates of the Caribbean navigator Jules Salter.

"It's good to be back on the Solent with plenty of tide and shallow water," says Salter who grew up in Cowes and was one time navigator for GBR Challenge, Britain's last America's Cup challenger. "There are plenty of teams, plenty of boats and quite a few new boats, so it all looks good."

Salter, who sailed the long offshore for the winning British team two years ago, believes that apart from Monday, when there should be good breeze from the northeast, later in the week the wind will be lighter.

Another former Volvo Ocean Race navigator freshly returned from the centennial Newport-Bermuda race is Australian Adrienne Cahalan, who agrees with Salter's forecast for the weather. "It is going to be very light so it will be very tactical with the tides. I've been madly trying to reacquaint myself with the tides, so I reckon the GBR teams will have an advantage, but then a lot of teams have British navigators to get the local knowledge factor. People out there who are racing on the Solent Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, and who know where all the marks off the top of their heads will have an advantage, whereas for the foreigners it is quite a challenge."

But Cahalan is doing herself down. She has much experience of racing on these waters having lived nearby on and off since 1990 and having competed in three Admiral's Cups, culminating in her victory with the Australian team in 2003. She believes that level of competition in the Rolex Commodores' Cup is now rivalling that of the Admiral's Cup. "It will be very competitive. The Irish team particularly have put a lot of resources and time into this Cup. There are 39 boats in this regatta. The mood on the dock reminds me of an Admiral's Cup and it will be really good racing."

Compared to the mighty Irish and British teams, the three French teams are more low key, believes Gry Trenteseaux, leader of the French effort and skipper of the Beneteau 44.7 Courrier du Coeur, the big boat in France Bleu. A higher percentage of crew on the nine French boats are amateur, although many have sailed at the highest level in the past. "On my boat I have Christophe Clevenot, who was a Tornado World Champion about 10 years ago and Yvon Quernec, who was Tornado vice-world champion, then there's Francois Lamiot, who campaigned seven Figaros and the America's Cup and Admiral's Cup," says Trenteseaux.

Trenteseaux also cites the example of the France Blanc big boat Jean-Claude Nicoleau's Codiam whose crew includes Nicolas Loday now technically an amateur' sailor under ISAF's categorisation but who was a World Champion in the 505 class 20 years ago. The most famous name in the French team is Pierre Follenfant, who has also competed in the highly competitive French single-handed Figaro one design class and in the first Vendee Globe in 1989. "He was a professional, but now he is a gentleman sailor," says Trenteseaux.

Compared to the boats in the Irish and British teams, the French line-up comprises more production boats. Trenteseaux points out that on average the French boats are generally shorter than their competitors and so he is not pleased with the light winds forecast for this week. "Our boats are better in medium or high winds. But we have a very good atmosphere in the French teams and we are happy to compete and be in Cowes. It is sure that it is the best place to sail in the world."