Going into the final few days of the Pre-Olympic Test Event, Team GBR sailors are currently lying in medal positions in four classes. Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie is sitting in first place in the Finn class, fellow Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson and crew of Sarah Webb and Sarah Ayton are second in the Yngling, Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield are second in the 470 and Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith are in bronze medal position in the 49er class.

After a postponement waiting for the wind to materialize, the sailors eventually left the Olympic Sailing Centre and enjoyed racing in one of the best breezes that they have had all week. In these conditions Ben Ainslie scored a third and a fifth place in the Finn class, which saw him hang on to a 14-point lead over the 1996 Olympic gold medallist Mateusz Kusznierewicz of Poland with Rafael Trujillo of Spain in third.

It was a good day in the 470 classes, with both the British men and women putting in sound results to move up in the overall scores. Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield posted two results in the top ten to move up into silver medal position with one race to go. Johan Molund and Martin Andersson of Sweden currently lead the class going into the final day of racing.

Glanfield commented: “We definitely want a medal here and certainly don’t want to come fourth! I think those that are saying that it is a practice event are those that are not going so well. The last Pre-Olympics before Sydney was fairly representative and we were fourth then and finished fourth at the Olympic Games, so we would definitely like a medal here.”

Fellow British 470 sailors Christina Bassadone and Katherine Hopson also sailed well, finishing the day with a third and seventh which saw them move up into fifth place with a day to go.

In the 49er class, Team GBR sailors Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith were back on pace, scoring two third places and an eighth, which pushed them up into third place overall with two race days to go.

Brotherton said: “We are chuffed to bits with our performance. It was a consistent day and there were no big surprises in the breeze. We now have four races to go and this is the busiest time of the regatta, we have laid the foundations and now we can afford to sail with a little bit of freedom.”

In the Laser class Team GBR sailor Paul Goodison has decided, along with his coach and the Olympic Manager, to pull out of the regatta and return to Great Britain. Goodison is fatigued after continuous training abroad and has returned home in order to get some crucial rest before the all-important ISAF World Sailing Championships in Cadiz next month, which forms part of the RYA Olympic Selection Process.

If the racing stays to schedule, the final day of racing for the Star, Yngling, Finn and 470 classes will take place today, with the rest of the classes scheduled to conclude on the 28 August.

Results (after day 7)

Finn

1, Ben Ainslie, GBR (2,6,1,1,2,6,(14),3,5) 26 pts

2, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, POL (10,3,5,(DNF),3,12,1) 40 pts

3, Rafael Trujillo, ESP (6,2,(19),7,9,3,9,9,1) 46 pts

49er

1, Chris Nicholson/Gary Boyd, AUS (3,4,(18),1,11,1,(OCS),3,7,1,12,4) 47 pts

2, Piero Sibelo/Gianfranco Sibelo, ITA (2,6,6,4,4,(15),1,8,(11),6,1,10) 48 pts

3, Paul Brotherton/Mark Asquith, GBR (10,2,7,2,(15),5,8,(13),8,3,3,8) 56 pts

Star

1, Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira, BRA ((12),2,1,7,1,6,1,9,8) 35 pts

2, Peter Bromby/Lee White, BER (6,1,3,4,10,1,7,7,(15)) 39 pts

3, Marc Pickel/Anton Kolb, GER (2,(9),4,5,5,5,8,5,5) 39 pts

GBR

9, Iain Percy/Steve Mitchell (1,4,17,6,(DNF),DNS,5,3,10) 65 pts

Yngling

1, Hannah Swett/Joan Touchette/Melissa Purdy, USA (3,1,2,(10),4,1,8,9,1) 29 pts

2, Shirley Robertson/Sarah Webb/Sarah Ayton, GBR ((10),4,9,3,2,4,4,3,6) 35 pts

3, Kristin Wagner/Anna Hoell/Veronika Lochbrunner, GER (6,6,1,6,(9),5,2,2,8) 36 pts

470 Women

1, Sofia Bekatorou/Emilia Tsoulfa, GRE (1,3,(OCS),2,7,4,5,11,5,6) 43 pts

2, Susanne Ward/Michaela Ward, DEN (3,11,2,10,5,13,(13),2,4,(20)) 63 pts

3, Maria Fernanda Sesto/Paula Reinoso, ARG ((OCS),13,4,1,10,15,16,1,2,4) 66 pts

GBR

5, Christina Bassadone/Katherine Hopson ((OCS),4,16,3,14,8,8,15,3,7) 78 pts

470 Men

1, Johan Molund/Martin Andersson, SWE (4,7,3,10,11,10,4,(DNF),6,1) 56 pts

2, Nick Rogers/Joe Glanfield, GBR (7,12,6,6,12,1,10,(DNF),5,7) 66 pts

3, Gabrio Zandona/Andrea Trani, ITA (20,2,2,17,10,(24),9,4,1,6) 71 pts

Laser

1, Robert Scheidt, BRA ((15),4,2,1,3,1,11,5,(24)) 42 pts

2, Daniel Birgmark, SWE (1,8,(12),2,12,8,5,2,4) 42 pts

3, Mate Arapov, CRO (8,6,3,6,2,(OCS),3,15,3) 46 pts

GBR

28, Paul Goodison (6,9,13,(DSQ),11,OCS,OCS,DNS,DNS) 179 pts

Mistral Men

1, Nikolas Kaklamanakis, GRE (8,5,(DNF),1,1,1,1,1) 18 pts

2, Gal Fridman, ISR (11,3,2,4,2,6,2,2) 21 pts

3, Yuanguo Zhou, CHN (6,7,1,9,(14),2,3,5) 33 pts

GBR

13, Nick Dempsey ((17),9,14,12,7,11,12,8) 73 pts

Mistral Women

1, Alessandra Sensini, ITA (1,2,1,1,1,1,(4),2) 9 pts

2, Lee Lai Shan, HKG (2,3,6,2,4,(14),2,3) 22 pts

3, Faustine Merret, FRA (4,4,2,(8),7,5,5,1) 28 pts

GBR

7, Natasha Sturges (9,12,(OCS),5,3,8,11,8) 56 pts

Europe

1, Lenka Smidova, CZE (4,7,7,3,5,1,(OCS),4,5) 36 pts

2, Min Dizillie, BEL ((17),8,3,7,7,10,3,1,4) 43 pts

3, Siren Sundby, NOR (2,6,(DNF),1,2,6,1,DNS,1) 47 pts

GBR

23, Andrea Brewster (13,19,10,24,18,22,22,(OCS),19) 147 pts

Tornado

1, Darren Bundock/John Forbes, AUS (1,1,3,5,(11),1,1,1,3) 16 pts

2, Santiago Raul Lange/Carlos Mauricio Espinola, ARG (2,2,1,(OCS),5,10,3,3,1) 27 pts

3, Roman Hagara/Hans-Peter Steinacher, AUT (3,3,2,11,7,(12),5,2,2) 35 pts GBR

6, Leigh McMillan/Mark Bulkeley, GBR (6,14,10,7,1,2,6,(17),16) 62 pts