A steady day for the 470 women’s crew of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark sees them hold on to the overall lead after six races, while Ben Ainslie is level on points with Frenchman Jonathan Lobert at the top of the Finn fleet after a testing day.

 

Wind conditions in the region of 22 knots made for a physical day’s racing, with many crews across the fleets capsizing in the gusts.

 

Mills and Clark maintained another steady day to keep the overall lead in the 470 women’s event at the halfway stage of their regatta and heading into their rest day on Monday.

 

They picked up an eighth and second from their two races, which gives them a ten point margin over the second-placed Japanese crew of Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata.

 

"We’re really pleased with our day on the water today," said the 31-year-old Clark.

 

"When me and Hannah teamed up in February, one of our areas of concern was how we’d perform in the big breeze so we’re definitely pleased to have come off the water with a second and an eighth.

 

"A few people have got a better day than us, but not many, so we’re pleased.

 

"I feel pretty knackered!" she continued. "We’re doing shorter courses with lots of laps so It does change the game a bit. I’m a bit more exhausted with those extra few hoists and drops that we do and I think Hannah’s feeling pretty battered as well, but luckily we’re scheduled for a day off tomorrow so time to recover."

 

After a difficult day on Saturday, the 470 men’s team of Nick Rogers and Chris Grube bounced back with 3,6 from their two races to move them into fifth place overall after six races.

 

"It was physical because the chop was so on and off, especially down by the (harbour) wall it was a real mess," said helmsman Rogers, who won 470 class silver with Joe Glanfield at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

 

"I feel like I’ve had a fire hose in my eyes all day! But it was a really good, fun day and I’m glad to have got some good results out of it."

 

In the heavyweight Finn fleet, Ben Ainslie had to work hard to retain his overall lead. He crossed sixth in the first race of the day, but had to recover from an uncharacteristic capsize in the second race which left him in 18th place at the third turning mark. But the triple Olympic gold medallist picked his way back through the fleet to finish in fifth.

 

"I made a few mistakes today so it wasn’t the best day I’ve ever sailed in my life, but sometimes that happens," he admitted.

 

"I had to sort few things out – obviously it’s not great capsizing and I was right at the back of the fleet but I was glad to be able to catch up. 

 

"You have to be able to cope with all the conditions, so it’s a challenge," said Ainslie of today’s racing. "It wasn’t so fun for me today as I was making it hard for myself but it was a relatively good day."

 

Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes also made some good recoveries in a tricky day of racing for the 49er fleet on the Nothe course. The Skandia Team GBR duo finished second in the first of their day’s three races, but a capsize in race two in the gusting conditions them finish 16th

 

They capsized again while leading in race three, but recovered well to post a sixth and end the day in fifth overall on what Morrison described as a "missed opportunity day".

 

"The windward mark was right in under the wall of the Nothe, so you can’t actually see the wind coming," the Exmouth sailor explained. "It looks like it’s glassy-flat.

 

"I imagine if you were a kite-surfer or a wakeboarder you’d think it was absolutely perfect, but in a 49er it just meant there were big lumps of wind coming at you that you couldn’t see – somewhat like sailing blindfolded I guess!"

 

"We’ll see at the end of the week how bad a day it is in terms of the score. It’s certainly not disastrous but very frustrating."

 

Frustrating was also Iain Percy’s description of his day on the Star course, where he and Andrew Simpson picked up a fifth in the first race and were in a strong position in the second when a fault with the running backstay saw their mast come crashing down, forcing them to retire for the day.

 

"It’s a rope that’s good for two tonnes and it just clean snapped," said the bemused double Olympic gold medallist Percy.

 

"You can imagine the speed that the mast comes down in that wind when it hasn’t got the boat holding it up any more.

 

"It’s just a bit frustrating when we went back to re-start the race yesterday when we weren’t actually over. With sailing you’ve got to avoid having more than one bad (race). We were first or second in that race today and the rig came down, so it’s all a bit frustrating at the moment – I’m glad it’s this year and not next!

 

Percy and Simpson are in 11th overall, with their discard still to take effect, while in the Laser and Laser Radial events, Paul Goodison and Charlotte Dobson will look to come out fighting after their rest day on Monday. They’re placed eighth and 13th respectively after six races.

 

The RS:X windsurfers will return to action on Monday, 8 August with Nick Dempsey poised in first and Bryony Shaw in fourth, while both 470 classes, the Lasers and Laser Radials will resume racing on Tuesday, 9 August.