Brits Leads After Better Australian Day

Event favourites Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) are still the British crew's closest rivals after finishing second and first in Friday's two races.

The first race of the day was won by Italian duo Gabrio Zandona and Pietro Zucchetti (ITA), who led from the start and were comfortably ahead at every mark. Behind them, a three-way battle for second place raged throughout the 60-minute race between Lucas Calabrese and Juan De La Fuente (ARG), Belcher and Page and fleet leaders Patience and Bithell (GBR).

At the finish Belcher and Page claimed second with the Argentina crew third and the British pair fourth. In the second race, Patience and Bithell led from the start but were chased down by the Belcher and Page, who overhauled them to win the race. The Australian crew are now six points behind Great Britain.

Despite slumping to 19th in the second race, a seventh in the first kept Matthias Schmid and Florian Reichstaedter (AUT) in the top three.

The Men's 470 fleet resume racing tomorrow at 14:00 local time on the Weymouth Bay South Course.

Top Five
1. Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (GBR) - 9pts
2. Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) - 15pts
3. Matthias Schmid and Florian Reichstaedter (AUT) - 31pts
3. Anton Dahlberg and Sebastian Ostling (SWE) - 32pts
5. Alvaro Marinho and Miguel Nunes (POR) - 35pts

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