Ben Ainslie rejoins the Finn circuit for the European Championships taking place at Scarlino in Italy next week. Having skipped the Hyeres event, Ainslie will be looking to take yet another title in Italy in his run-up to the Olympics in Qingdao.

In the final medal race of the Gold Cup earlier this year in Melbourne, Ainslie had the unusual pleasure of having to actually race in order to win the series. In doing so he narrowly beat New Zealand’s Dan Slater to take his fifth Finn world title, the first person ever to do so.

Such is the depth of the Finn fleet at the moment that any of some 20 sailors are capable of winning individual races next week. Plus, many sailors have reduced their sailing weight in expectation of light winds in Qingdao. So if next week proves to be windy, there could be some interesting results.