The pairing overcame strong breezes to record fifth and third-place finishes and keep themselves a comfortable 18 points clear of Greece's Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis, who won the two races.

"We just did not get off the start lines that cleanly," said Ryan.

"Conditions were quite challenging and we were not that pretty at the first mark in both races.

"We made a few silly mistakes - it does happen.

"But we are happy to have come back in both races."

The race for the remaining Rio 2016 berth in the men's 470 class is still very close with Ukraine's Boris Shvets and Pavlo Matsuyev lying in 15th, two points ahead of Italy's Matteo Cappuro and Matteo Puppo.

After four finals races in the women's 470 fleet, the lead is held by the Brazilian duo Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Barbachan.

Their scoreline took a hit today, however, when they were penalised for breaking the start line early.

The top scoring women's 470 crew was Great Britain’s Amy Seabright and Anna Carpenter whose pair of fourth places puts them in third overall.

There are just five points between Finland's Niki Blaser and Mikaela Wulff in 19th and Israel's Noya Bar-Am in 22nd in the battle between the European nations not already qualified for Rio 2016. 

Estonian sisters Marjaliisa and Elise Umb are a further 12 points back.

The 49er gold fleet could not be closer at the top, but the remaining European Olympic spot has been secured by Sweden.

The top three crews share the same points tally after today's four races with Germany's Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel elevating their German selection chances thanks to two wins.

Austria's Nico Delle Karth and Nikolaus Resch lie second on countback with Ireland's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern third.

The Netherlands' Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz lead the 49er FX fleet by eight points after three back-to-back wins today.

In the Nacra 17 class, world champions Billy Besson and Marie Riou of France are on course to win with a day to spare, holding a lead of 43 points.

Laser radial world champion Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark registered first and 10th place finishes today, sharing the race wins with fourth-placed compatriot Sarah Gunni Toftedal.

Andrew Maloney of New Zealand and Argentina's Julio Alsogaray both scored 8 points today, making them the best performers in the laser class which Maloney leads by 14 points.

Britain’s Tom Squires held on to his lead in the RS:X men's fleet, while in the Finn, world champion Giles Scott, also of Britain, took a fourth and a win to share the same overall points tally as second-placed Josh Junior of New Zealand.

The fight for the Olympic spot in the Finn sees Turkey's Alican Kaynar leading Czech Republic’s Ondrej Teply by five points.