Ben Ainslie dominant as he aims for Olympic place

With two of the 10 classes headed by British Olympic medal prospects, the Skandia squad at the Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth settled into its work on the second day.

Ben Ainslie is gradually establishing a dominance which he hopes will lead him to a fourth consecutive gold medal and a successful defence of the title he won in the Finn singlehander in China.

The new pairing of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark also moved into the lead in the 470 dinghy.

But on a day which finally delivered the forecast fresh conditions, with westerly winds topping 20 knots, and an event which will decide the British squad at the official Olympic test event during the first two weeks of August, the pace picked up leaving the need for improvement in other classes.

Best in the 470 men’s class are Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell who are ninth while Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, the reigning gold medallists in the Star keelboat, were 12 overnight.

Charlotte Dobson is fourth in the Laser radial, Bryony Shaw, bronze medallist in China, eighth in the windsurfer.