News Rio de Janeiro is now in full-on test event mode for next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games and this weekend organisers will return to the scene of the first one: Marina da Glória The Aquece Rio International Sailing Regatta 2015 follows on from the successful first staging of the event last year, with sailing being the only sport to have two test events  Sailing traditionally has two test events due to the crucial role played in the sport by natural and climatic conditions This will also allow Games organisers to monitor conditions in Guanabara Bay   “The health and well-being of the athletes are the priorities of Rio 2016,” said Tania Braga, head of sustainability at Rio 2016 “We are working hard to ensure that the water quality on the courses meets international standards and Brazilian law We are closely following the monitoring carried out by the relevant environmental agencies and we share the results with sports federations, athletes, technical commissions and the International Olympic Committee ”Speaking at Friday’s (14 August) press conference, Alastair Fox, head of competitions at the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), said: “Together with the organising committee we have made every effort to have the bay as clean as possible for this test event and we are very happy with the results we’ve seen until now We are concerned not to let any external items, such as floating rubbish, disturb the races, and we’ll honour the commitment to deliver a clean competition area for athletes ”US sailor David Hughes, one of the strongest entries in the 470 class, said: “This is one of my favourite places to sail in the world The courses are very challenging and Guanabara Bay has a great landscape, right in the heart of the city ”The second regatta, which begins on Saturday (15 August) and continues until the following Saturday (22 August), will surpass the first one in several ways There will be 344 athletes (up from 326 last year) from 55 countries (compared with 35 in 2014) The sailors will include around Olympic 30 medal-winners, including Brazil’s Robert Scheidt, the first Laser sailor to win two Olympic titles, and Australia’s Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan, who together won gold in the 470 class at the London 2012 Olympic Games, plus at last year’s Aquece Rio event You can follow the ISAF’s live race tracking by clicking here Check out our video 'Dance of the Sails' from last year's sailing test event:The test event’s focus will also be broader this time In 2014, only the competition area and its management were evaluated, but this year the results system, anti-doping testing and the work of 121 Brazilian technical officials will also be tested There will also be a new competition course (near Pai Island off the coast of Itaipu, in Niterói), in addition to the five existing ones (Copacabana, Niterói, Naval Academy, Rio-Niterói Bridge and Sugarloaf) Check out the map of the courses below The inclusion of this new lane is in response to a request from the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) to make the competition more flexible and analyse alternative options before selecting the tournament’s official courses for the Olympic Games The number of classes, however, will remain the same (10): RS:X (windsurf, men’s and women’s), Laser (one-man dinghy), Laser Radial (one-woman dinghy), Finn (heavyweight one-man dinghy), 470 (two-person dinghy, men’s and women’s), 49er (men’s skiff), 49er FX (women’s skiff) and the new Olympic class, Nacra 17 (mixed multihull)  Rio 2016 sailing course map (ISAF) Test events tend to identify athletes with a good chance of winning a medal in the Olympic tournament This was the case with Australian duo Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, in the 49er class They won the preparatory competition one year before the London 2012 Games, where they also took gold Among the contenders in the women’s skiff (49er FX) will be Brazilian duo Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze, the 2014 female world sailors of the year and winners at last year’s Rio 2016 test event  Other 2014 champions will return to the waters of Guanabara Bay, including Australia’s Tom Burton, in the Laser class; Great Britain’s Giles Scott, in the Finn class; and the Netherlands’ Dorian van Rijsselberge and France’s Charline Picon, both in the RS:X class  Sailing will be the fifth test event since July, following volleyball, triathlon, rowing and equestrian The road cycling event will take place on Sunday (16 August) and marathon swimming will be staged the following weekend (22-23 August) Click here to find out more about the Aquece Rio International Sailing Regatta 2015, click here to find out more about the Rio 2016 test event programme and click here to see the full calendar  Check out our video explaining the technicalities of sailing (English subtitles available by clicking on the options symbol):