From now on, Olympic and Paralympic sailors will be part of a single squad and Australia’s leading Paralympic sailors will be offered AIS scholarships, in line with their Olympic compatriots.

"The combination of our Olympic and Paralympic programmes is the culmination of many years work for a number of people within the Australian Paralympic Committee, Australian Institute of Sport and Yachting Australia," said Yachting Australia High Performance Director Peter Conde.

"We would not have been able to affect this change without the support of the APC and AIS who both provided additional funding to make this happen.

"We feel that this change will allows us to provide the best resources and support for all of our leading sailors and create a culture of one team for our Olympic and Paralympic programmes.”

Jason Hellwig, the chief executive of the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC), expressed his organisation’s satisfaction with the Yachting Australia initiative.

"This is a very real demonstration of the sport’s commitment to its Paralympic program. I am sure it will have far-reaching benefits within the sport," said Hellwig.

"Sailing’s coaching and technical staff tell us that full integration of the programmes will provide the best chance of maximising Australia’s medal potential. This is the sort of rigour we need to achieve success.

"Yachting Australia is showing the way for other Australian sports.

"Their willingness to work with the Australian Paralympic Committee and the AIS to achieve this outcome is to be congratulated.

"After a low point in Athens, Paralympic and Olympic sailing results picked up significantly in Beijing and, with initiatives such as this, we can only look forward to even better performances in London and beyond."

Sailors selected in the 2010 Australian/AIS Sailing Team are 2008 Beijing Paralympic silver medallists Daniel Fitzgibbon and Rachael Cox, in the Skud 18 class and Beijing bronze medallists Colin Harrison and Russell Boaden, sailing in the Sonar class with Australian Sailing Development Squad athlete Rod Angwin.

The two Australian/AIS Sailing Team Paralympic crews will head to Holland in July for the IFDS World Championships, a major qualification event for the 2012 London Paralympic Games.