After four races RYA team GBR sailors Alister Richardson/Peter Greenhalgh (Hampshire) are currently lying in second place overall at the 49er world championship, Hawaii. The pair sailed well in the 49-boat fleet to post four results inside the top six, and place themselves five points behind the world number one pairing of Rodion Luca/George Leonchuk of the Ukraine.

Three other British pairings make up the top ten. RYA team GBR sailors Paul Brotherton/Mark Asquith (Hampshire) are currently lying in fifth place, posting three results inside the top ten, Andy Rice/Harvey Hillary (Hampshire) are eighth overall and Chris Draper sailing with Olympic Silver Medallist, Simon Hiscocks (Hampshire), are 10th.

The flat water of Kaneohe Bay combined with 12-18 knot trade winds made for fast sailing, though shifty conditions proved challenging. More of the same can be expected in the forthcoming days.

Qualifying races continue through to Wednesday, after which the fleet will be divided into the Gold and Silver fleets for three days of final races. The top six countries to finish in the Gold Fleet will qualify for berths in the 2004 Olympics.

Results (after 4 races)

1, Rodion Luca/George Leonchuk UKR (7,2,3,1) 13 pts

2, Alister Richardson/Peter Greenhalgh GBR (6,3,4,5) 18 pts

3, Pieter Lantermans/Pim Nieuwenhuis NED (8,6,3,2) 19 pts

Other GBR Results

5, Paul Brotherton/Mark Asquith (4,13,9,2) 28 pts

8, Andy Rice/Harvey Hillary (10,2,14,4) 30 pts

10, Chris Draper/Simon Hiscocks (8,8,8,8) 32 pts

35, Stevie Morrison/Ben Rhodes (12,9,24,11) 56 pts