British Sailing Team at ISAF Sailing World Cup Final, Abu Dhabi - Day 3

The stakes were high on the penultimate day of ISAF Sailing World Cup Final action in Abu Dhabi on Saturday (29 November), with medal race berths up for grabs as the three-day opening series drew to a close.

Sunday will see the podium places for this inaugural World Cup finale decided in the Emirati capital, with the British Sailing Team's Bryony Shaw assured of at least a silver in the women's RS:X windsurfing event after another strong three-race performance on Saturday, which included a sixth race win of the nine-race series.

The Beijing bronze medallist heads into the final ten-board showdown with a 16 point lead over her nearest rival – France's World Champion Charline Picon, who is the only sailor capable of preventing Shaw from maintaining the top step of the podium.

"I'm pleased – I feel like I've sailed a good series," admitted the 31-year-old.

"People today were going for it more today – they jagged races, sending it off to corners and things like that. I was trying to play it more conservative and just try to wrap the week up. We'll see how we go tomorrow!"

Shaw's stablemate Izzy Hamilton revelled in the flatter water conditions on the windsurfing course today, adding a race win and a second to her scorecard, but in overall 14th it wasn't quite enough to boost her into the final medal race positions.

Nick Dempsey, meanwhile, improved his standings at the end of day three with the help of two race wins from his three races, and will head into the final day in bronze medal position and hoping to remain in the podium spots.

"It was really, really hard – really tricky," described the two-time Olympic medallist of the racing conditions on Saturday.

"There were a few times where you just had to roll the dice a little bit and just smash a corner. I did that in the first couple of races and it was alright actually."

The 34-year-old feels like he's been on good form in Abu Dhabi this week after a difficult season.

"I'm certainly more confident than I was at the beginning of the week and I certainly feel like I'm racing and I can take anyone on the water at any point around the course. That's really nice, because I haven't really felt that for a long time. It feels like things are starting to come together a bit."

Alison Young will be chasing Finland's Tuula Tenkanen for bronze in the Laser Radial medal race, with the British Olympian poised in fourth but tied on points with the Finn heading into the final day. Podium Potential sailor Hannah Snellgrove narrowly missed the ten-boat medal race cut by just one point.

At their first event back since the Rio Test Event, Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre will be pushing for the podium spots in the 470 Women's finale on Sunday, with the duo currently in fifth but just one point from the third and fourth placed Japanese and American crews, while three British pairings will battle it out in the ten-boat 49er medal races on Sunday.

John Pink admitted that he and Stuart Bithell didn't get off the startline very well in their three races on Saturday, picking up 10,2,14 for their efforts, which puts them in fifth place and four points from the medal spots heading into the final day.

Dave Evans-Ed Powys were back in action today after a collision and subsequent hospital visit for Evans saw them retire from Friday's racing. They're placed sixth, with a race win among their three scores for Saturday, with Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign in seventh overall.

Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves made the medal race cut in their first international outing since joining forces in the Nacra 17 class last month, heading into the final day in eighth place with teammates Lucy Macgregor and Andrew Walsh qualifying two places ahead of them in sixth.

Groves, 25, made the transition from one hull to two having switched from crewing in the 49erFX class, and says her first international outing at this ISAF Sailing World Cup Final has proved a baptism of fire

"It's been an experience so far – I've been thrown in at the deep end with the top best boats in the Nacra fleet, so it's been interesting but I'm loving the challenge, it's been good fun," said the ??-year-old.

It was easier in the flat water [today]. The chop makes things pretty entertaining with two hulls, we've got a boat which I'm not used to, the hulls flex quite a lot and throw you all over the place with the chop. Trimming the mainsheet's much harder – everything's much harder playing the waves!"

Teammate Macgregor agreed that Saturday's conditions for the multihull fleet provided a welcome change to those experienced on previous days.

"It's been nice to have had a really good mix on all three days. It's been some really good training actually in terms of the long term, to be able to race everyone in those different steps of breeze and different sea states. We've had a really good few days."

In the Laser fleet, world bronze medallist Nick Thompson admitted his frustration at 'not being able to find my groove' at this event and will head into the final day in sixth place, while Finn world bronze medallist Ed Wright made the medal race for the heavyweight dinghy class in tenth place.

In the Open Kiteboarding event, Exmouth's Oliver Bridge won all of his heats to progress to the semi-final as one of the favourites, while the new pairing of Kate Macgregor and Kirstie Urwin ended their regatta in 15th place.

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