Two races took place on the first day of the final series at the Laser worlds in Bitez, Turkey yesterday.

The first race of the day saw a tussle between double Olympic medallist Robert Scheidt of Brazil and the 2000 Olympic bronze medallist Michael Blackburn of Australia. Blackburn took the lead but a 720 degree penalty turn after getting penalised with a yellow flag saw Scheidt move to the front. The battle was not over and on the last downwind leg, Blackburn managed to sail past the Olympic champion to cross the line in first place.

The wind increased to 14 knots for the second race. Andreas Geritzer of Austria led at the windward mark and extended his lead by the finish to take his first race win of the championship. Blackburn and Scheidt showed good speed to move up from the teens to eventually finish second and third respectively.

Team GBR sailor Paul Goodison finished sixth in the first race of the day which he followed up with a 32nd, leaving him in ninth place overall.

Four races remain of the Laser worlds, which conclude on 19 May.

Results – gold fleet

1, Robert Scheidt, BRA ((6),5,1,1,1,1,2,3) 14 pts

2, Michael Blackburn, AUS (3,(6),2,4,5,1,1,2) 18 pts

3, Mark Mendelblatt, USA (4,(25),3,1,3,4,8,4) 27 pts

GBR

9, Paul Goodison ((BFD),14,2,2,12,3,6,32) 71 pts

31, Hugh Styles (20,36,19,14,38,8,(DNF),10) 145 pts

39, Mark Howard (4,13,(OCS),22,15,13,31,60) 158 pts

43, Andrew Commander (17,13,25,27,36,30,18,(55)) 166 pts

45, Dan Holman (5,46,(OCS),3,6,28,BFD,12) 174 pts

48, Charles Baillie-Strong (34,50,7,20,27,32,13,(65)) 183 pts