Double world champions Iker Martinez and Xavier Fernandez, now assured of a medal, moved closer to the Olympic title yesterday in their spectacular 49er class dinghy.
The Spaniards hold a nine-point cushion over their key rivals and a finish of no worse than 10th in Thursday’s finale of the 16-race series would hand them gold.
Ukraine’s Rodion Luka and George Leonchuk as well as Britain’s Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks, ranked one in the world, are also assured of a podium finish but look set to fight it out for the minor medals.
Draper and Hiscocks won the first of three races yesterday in excellent racing conditions but followed up with a ninth and a sixth to fall back to third.
Brazil, already winners of one gold at the regatta, could be set for two more.
Windsurfer Ricardo Santos holds a narrow lead going into the final race of the Mistral today while Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira continue to dominate the Star class.
The pair, bronze medalists in Sydney, finished fifth in yesterday’s only race, won by Swedes Fredrik Loof and Anders Ekstrom, but now have a seven-point lead over Canada’s Ross Macdonald and Mike Wolfs.
The Canadian crew trailed in 17th and last after their jib was ripped to pieces following a collision with the Bermudan crew before the start. But an appeal for redress was upheld by the race jury, who agreed that their finishing position was made worse through no fault of their own.
Macdonald and Wolfs were scored on their points average from their previous races, strengthening their position of second overall.
