Yngling class at Athens 2004 mid-regatta focus

Shirley Robertson, Sarah Webb and Sarah Ayton maintain their lead after day three of the Olympic Yngling regatta © Richard Langdon

Shirley Robertson, Sarah Webb and Sarah Ayton maintain their lead after day three of the Olympic Yngling regatta © Richard Langdon

Shirley Robertson and the Sarahs Ayton and Webb may be refusing to publicly consider how close they are already to winning a medal in the Yngling class but as their campaign passes the theoretical midway point with them having built a comfortable lead, they are already looking like red-hot favourites to win.

Were they to break their self imposed refusal to study the results table they would find that behind them a battle for silver and bronze is already shaping up. As the main protagonists - Dorte O Jensen and her Danish girls, the Ukraine's Rusiana Taran and crew, the Netherlands' Anneliese Thies, and the British girls' regular training partners Germany's Kristin Wagner and her team who posted a stunning win and a seventh - are all separated by only five points. They lead by nine points but if the discard is ignored to give an insight into what could happen if the Danes land another big score, their lead doubles.

While the wind is expected to go back to sea-breeze mode for Tuesday, with the possible return of the Meltemi by Thursday, an unsettled period may be due but Robertson and her crew will steel themselves for the second half of the regatta not only secured by their credentials with their helm at her fourth Olympics and that they have medalled on this patch of water in the two Pre-Olympic regattas, but they really need only to maintain the same level of consistency to be sure of reaching their ultimate goal, while an almighty scrap develops behind them.

Significantly they have been the crew who have held it together best across both the lighter conditions and the last two stronger Meltemi days. Sarah Webb looked cool and confident as she spoke just seconds after hitting the dock. She admitted being too cautious on their second start where they just let themselves slip to leeward of one boat, they were forced to the right side of the beat and ended up on the wrong side of the shift, rounding the weather mark with only the Italians chasing them.

"Yes we are pretty pleased with today, it could have been a lot worse. On the second start we were a little bit forward and we had no need to push it and we slowed and ended up underneath somebody and we ended up having to tack off and suddenly we were on the wrong side of the shift and were last by miles but we knew it was a long race and we knew that it was breezy and we are strong. We were fairly confident that we could pull it back." Recalled Webb, "We know that we have got the boathandling and the strength and Shirley is a lot better than anyone else with her driving. Today both upwind and downwind was just awesome, there was a lot of capsizing going on and broaching."

Of their own nervous moment she explained: "Our gybe? That was lucky. We were gybing and just got a massive gust and because I was holding the guy it just went shooting forward, and normally if it had been in the cleat we would have just shot off with it, but we actually recovered pretty quickly and we have had a bit of practice broaching."

And of the breeze dropping: "I know we are half way through the regatta but to be honest we have not looked at the results. None of us are thinking of anything yet. We just take each day as it comes and I think if it gets lighter we still feel pretty confident. We were consistent even on the first day when it was light. To be honest coming into the regatta we were more thinking 'O God it's Meltemi', because we have been better in the light recently, but actually we just need to carry on doing what we are doing."

Of their day off Tuesday Webb says they will be doing a little boat work and maintenance, but that she will be trying to watch a bit of sport, read her book and might pop in for a bit of massage.

In the first race they were always playing catch up on the Germans who read the first two shifts and just powered away to round the weather mark with a lead of over one minute - pretty much as the Dane Jens Hogh Christensen and France's Guillame Florent did in the preceding Finn race. The British girls relinquished second towards the top end of the second beat, and had a nervous twitch downwind when they broached and nearly lost their kite, recovering quickly after blowing the halyard but fourth was another fine score.

And just as with Ben, they never cease to amaze. Shirley may have a few more races to go this week to finally smash the glass ceiling of sexism, if she earns her second gold that will force her to be recognised on equal terms with her male counterparts, but she climbed back through the fleet in the second race today to, yet again, convert a possible disaster to third, a very comfortable 'counter', with just the same kind of noticeably greater work rate that Ainslie displays.

And like Ben rarely do Robertson and the girls settle for the same downwind line as the pack they race, and their speed edge sometimes gets them out of trouble, but they are clearly making it work better than the competition at the moment.

Significantly, among the litany of 'flash quotes' supplied by the Athoc press teams at the regatta, several of the top teams today were penetrating the barriers of multiple translations to tip Shirl and the girls to win. Who would bet against them?