The threat of storms had delayed the start of day three's racing at the Rolex Miami OCR, but when the crews did get under way Britain's ailors made the best of the shifty conditions.

The British 470 teams continued their good form, with Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (pictured below) taking over the top spot in the men's event from team-mates Nic Asher and Elliot Willis thanks to a win from their sole race of the day.

Meanwhile, Penny Clark and Katrina Hughes took the gun with a minute's lead in the only race for the women's fleet, with Sarah Ayton and Saskia Clark finishing second.

Even the slight mishap of Hughes falling in the water did not impede her and Clark's progress, and they've moved up to second place overall after five races.

"On the first reach I had a little bit of a swim!" said 21-year-old Hughes.

"Somehow I hadn't managed to hook on to my trapeze elastic as well as my hook or something, and it ended up snapping.

"Fortunately I managed to grab it on the way down and only got dragged for a little bit before I managed to scramble back in the boat so we didn't really lose too much.

"We had quite a big lead from picking our way well up the first beat.

"It was just a case of racing smart and not doing anything stupid to stay there, so we're pretty pleased."

Giles Scott's perfect scorecard received a blemish when he was called over the start line early in the only race of the Finn fleet.

Dubbing himself a "starting idiot today", the 23-year-old still crossed the finish line ahead of the rest of the fleet, and remains in first place overall.

But he now has an OCS disqualification alongside his four race wins earned earlier in the regatta.

Britain's other two Finn competitors, Ben Ainslie and Andrew Mills, also sailed their discards - Ainslie was eighth and Mills 16th.

Britain's 49er sailors occupy the top three spots of the leaderboard, with John Pink and Rick Peacock (pictured top) just a point ahead of team-mates Dave Evans and Ed Powys.

Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith are third.



For Pink and Peacock the Rolex Miami OCR holds fond memories, as it was the site of their first major podium finish back in 2009, which Peacock explains, was a breakthrough for them as a team.

"It was the first big push season that me and Pinky had together really.

"It really kicked the season off well - you get that little confidence boost.

"We've had some great races really and a mixed bag with conditions

"The results could have been a lot worse today so we battled through and we've been enjoying it."

Britain's windsurfers continue to fare well, with Bryony Shaw in second place overall in the women's fleet, and Nick Dempsey also in second in the men's fleet, while development squad sailor Elliot Carney also remains inside the top ten.

Paul Goodison's otherwise excellent day of 2,1 took a disappointing turn when he was disqualified from the first race of the Laser fleet for not taking penalty turns after being yellow flagged by the jury.

The Olympic champion maintains he didn't hear their signals – he's now in second place on equal points with team-mate Nick Thompson who had 1,5, for his efforts today.

Lucy Macgregor, Mary Rook and Kate Macgregor won two out of their three gold group bouts in the women's match racing event, losing a close battle to the French team helmed by Claire Leroy.

In the Laser Radial event Alison Young is the highest British contender in seventh overall.

In the Paralympic classes, John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas maintain their lead in the Sonar event, picking up second in their only race of the day, while world champions Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell found some pace to win the only race for the SKUD class.

They're third overall, with 2.4mR sailors Megan Pascoe and Helena Lucas remaining in eighth and 11th places respectively after no racing was held for the class.


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January 2011: Miami nice! Scott has wind in his sails after two more ISAF World Cup victories
January 2011: Giles picks up two wins on opening day of ISAF Sailing World Cup