The battle for British honours in the Yngling class will go down to the wire at the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Cascais, Portugal, with Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson leading Shirley Robertson, Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor by just one point heading into Wednesday’s final medal race.

The two Skandia Team GBR crews are in first and second places respectively in the women’s keelboat class, with Ayton’s Team Mirabaud posting an 11,4 from their two races on Tuesday, and Team Shirley Robertson scoring 2,3 to close the gap on top spot to just one point from 11 points overnight.

A third British crew featuring development squad sailors Victoria Rawlinson, Emma Rawlinson and Sue Monson also secured a place in the final 10-boat, double points scoring medal race on Wednesday.

Sarah Webb from the leading Yngling yesterday commented: “We had a really tough day today, but there’s everything still to play for out there tomorrow.”

On whittling down the points gap in yesterday’s race, Robertson commented: “I know how to put together a programme and I know how to make that all come together at the right time. We have not been as polished here as I would have liked but we are happy with our new boat and set-up.”

Ed Wright has improved his position heading into today’s final day for the Finn class – the 2006 world bronze medallist is in fourth place, but just two points off of the gold medal spot. In fact, competition is so tight in this heavyweight dinghy category that just five points separate the top seven boats.

The final day of racing for the Laser class yesterday saw European Champion Paul Goodison finishing fifth place overall, while Charlotte Dobson ended the Laser Radial event as top British sailor in 10th place.

Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes remain in control heading into today’s first day of gold fleet racing in the 49er class – the European Champions are seven points ahead at the top of the leaderboard, while defending world champions Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks have improved their standing to 10th overall, with 3,1,9,2 from their four races yeterday.

The 470 men’s and women’s fleets saw just one race apiece on Tuesday, with Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield up to second place overall thanks to a third place, while Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark have also gained three places to third overall.

In the RS:X men’s windsurfing fleet, Nick Dempsey is up into third place, tied on points with the second placed Polish sailor Przemyslaw Miarczynski, while Bryony Shaw is in 15th place after 19,18 from her two races yesterday.

Racing at the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Cascais, Portugal, continues through until Friday 13 July.

Results

Laser (after 9 races)
1. Tom Slingsby, Aus (43pts)
2. Andrew Murdoch, Nzl (52pts)
3. Deniss Karpak, Est (55pts)
Selected GBR
5. Paul Goodison (62pts)

Laser Radial (after 8 races)
1. Tatiana Drozdovskaya, Blr (47pts)
2. Sari Multala, Fin, (50pts)
3. Petra Niemann, Ger (51pts)
Selected GBR
10. Charlotte Dobson (67pts)

RS:X Men (after 5 races)
1. Ricardo Santos, Bra (10pts)
2. Prezmyslaw Miarczynski, Pol (19pts)
3. Nick Dempsey, GBR (19pts)

RS:X Women (after 7 races)
1. Zofia Klepacka, Pol (15pts)
2. Barbara Kendall, Nzl (19pts)
3. Jessica Crisp, Aus (22pts)
Selected GBR
15. Bryony Shaw (55pts)

470 Men (after 5 races)
1. Nathan Wilmot-Malcolm Page, Aus (11pts)
2. Nick Rogers-Joe Glanfield, GBR (12pts)
3. Sven Coster-Kalle Coster, Ned (15pts)
Selected GBR
12. Nic Asher-Elliot Willis (22pts)

470 Women (after 5 races)
1. Marcelien de Koning-Lobke Berkhout, Ned (9pts)
2. Therese Thorgensson-Vendela Zachreisson, Swe (14pts)
3. Christina Bassadone-Saskia Clark (13pts)

49er (after 7 races)
1. Stevie Morrison-Ben Rhodes, GBR (10pts)
2. Nico Delle-Karth-Nikolaus Leopard, Aut (17pts)
3. Pietro Sibello-Gianfranco Sibello, Ita (18pts)
Selected GBR
10. Chris Draper-Simon Hiscocks (28pts)

Yngling (after 8 races)
1.Sarah Ayton-Sarah Webb-Pippa Wilson, GBR (29pts)
2. Shirley Robertson-Annie Lush-Lucy Macgregor, GBR (30pts)
3. Mandy Mulder-Annemieke Bes-Floortje Hendrikssen, Ned (36pts)
Selected GBR
10. Victoria Rawlinson-Emma Rawlinson-Sue Monson (86pts)

Finn (after 7 races)
1. Jan Pieter Postma, Ned (19pts)
2. Rafael Trujillo, Esp (20pts)
3. Gasper Vincec, Slo (20pts)
Selected GBR
4. Ed Wright (21pts)