Can the British board sailor catch the dynamite Dutchman?
A despondent Nick Dempsey has not given up entirely on gold but with Dutch windsurfer Dorian Van Rijsselbergehaving stretched his lead in the RS:Xs, has been forced to turn his attentions to landing the silver.
A second and third today was outstanding but Van Rijsselberge is so dominant in the class after a string of firsts and seconds that the gap between the Brit and the Dutchman is now 15 points with two races and the medal race remaining.
“This is the Olympic Games and it was never going to be easy,” said Dempsey who said he was unhappy at the port bias starts.
“He has sailed better than I have which is why he is in a better position than I am. I haven’t sailed badly but just haven’t sailed as well as him.
“Dorian can race freely now because he has such a good scoreline and doesn’t have to cover anyone. If he is ahead, he can just sail away but that is the game we are and at the moment it is all about protecting the silver and trying to chip away at the German and the Polish.
“It will be the same again tomorrow and if there is an opportunity on Tuesday to have a little play with Dorian and take him down, I will do my best to do that. And then we will see if the gold medal is on or not.
“I had two good results today but it is never nice going backwards so a bit frustrating. I took a calculated risk – I don’t like being beaten by the German and was quite upset about him being in front.
“I was pretty determined to try and pass him and that was really my only opportunity to tack 100 yds before the exclusion zone. But I got completely shafted and lost a place so I was quite annoyed at myself for taking the risk but sometimes you can’t stop yourself.”