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9 August 2008, 12:20 pm

World Champs Lead The Way In Yngling Fleet

Pippa Wilson (L) of Great Britain competes with team mates Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb

Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson lived up to their billing as pre-regatta favourties in today's Yngling races

©Clive Mason/Getty Images

2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Qingdao, China

Sarah AYTON, Sarah WEBB and Pippa WILSON lived up to their billing as favourites in the Yngling fleet with a second and third place finish in Saturday's two opening races putting them in the overall lead.

Sarah AYTON, Sarah WEBB and Pippa WILSON, the reigning World and European Champions, got off to a terrible start in the first race, but a storming final run saw them jump from 11th to second place. They followed that race up with a third place finish to lead overall on five points.

"We did great today," said a delighted WEBB. "In the first race it was incredibly tight until the end and everybody was bunched up together. We were first until the Australians passed us close to the finish."

WEBB said the team took a conservative approach to race 2, "In the second race we didn't push too hard. It was definitely a patience game. The wind was a little bit strong so the tide wasn't affecting us so much."

The Aussie team of Krystal WEIR, Karyn GOJNICH and Angela FARRELL won race 1, with the Russians in third.

The Dutch team of Mandy MULDER, Annemieke BES and Merel WITTEVEEN were runaway winners in the day's second race in a steadier 6 knot southeasterly breeze. They finished over 1 minute ahead of the second place team of Sally BARKOW, Carrie HOWE and Debbie CAPOZZI.

"Everything that we did wrong in the first race we did right in the second," explained BES. "We're happy with our results today and we'll keep on fighting."

Overall the Brits lead on five points. The Canadian team of Jennifer PROVAN, Martha HENDERSON and Katie ABBOTT, who only qualified for the Games after New Zealand rejected their place, lie second overall, with the Dutch in third. The Chinese team of Xiaqun SONG, Yanli YU and Xiaoni LI got off to a solid start and lie sixth overall. "I'm not satisfied with our performance today," said SONG. "The start was good but we made a wrong decision towards the end of the race. I regret that we took the wrong strategy and the fleet got away from us."