Edward Gorman

From Edward Gorman, Sailing Correspondent, in Sydney

One week into the Olympic sailing regatta, the Great Britain team already have their first medal and are firmly in the hunt for at least three more.

But sailing is a notoriously fickle sport with medals decided over up to 11 races, and Olympic history is littered with stories of yachtsmen and women who had glory seemingly well within their grasp only to see it slip through their fingers. However, all the indications are that we are about to witness a great week for British sailing and a medal count to rival their best performance at the Games since Melbourne in 1956 when Britain returned with a silver and two bronzes.

With Ian Barker and Simon Hiscocks already certain of either the bronze or silver in the 49ers, the remaining hopes rest with Shirley Robertson, who holds a nine-point lead with just five races to go in Europes; Ben Ainslie, who is four points ahead at the same stage in Lasers; and Iain Percy, leading the Finn class after two races and looking every bit a gold medal-winner. Britain also have a good outside chance in the Stars where Ian Walker and Mark Covell are second overall after two races.

The revelation of this regatta has been Robertson. A more hardworking and dedicated campaigner would be hard to find, yet success at this level has always eluded her. Her temperamental frailty has led, all too often, to championship-wrecking consequences. Eight years ago at Barcelona she was ninth in these deceptively complex single-handers. Four years ago at Savannah she was fourth after letting the bronze slip on the last day.

But this time the force is with her. The Royal Yachting Association has put enormous effort into helping her prepare and her new coach, Mark Littlejohn, has done a superb job in ensuring she is confident and relaxed enough to perform the way she could have done years ago.

Robertson has sailed confidently and consistently and, best of all, she is enjoying herself. As long as she turns in another steady performance on Tuesday when Europe racing resumes after a two-day lay-off, it is difficult to see how she will leave Sydney without a medal, and it could be gold.

In Lasers there was a slight question mark over Ainslie’s form going into the Games after a dip earlier in the year - the first in more than four years of consistent championship-winning racing - but it is clear he is now back to his best and is relishing the resumption of his battle with Robert Scheidt, of Brazil, for gold.

Most sailors at the Games rate Lasers as the toughest of the 11 classes because it is the biggest fleet with 43 competitors and boats are the same design. As a result, success comes down to athleticism, skill, tactical acumen and desire, qualities that abound in both Ainslie and Scheidt. With five races to come, they are on their own at the top of the leaderboard and, at this stage, it is hard to see anyone else coming close in their quest for gold.

It is early days for Percy, who also resumes on Tuesday, but he has started in blistering form, going fast upwind and down, and leads the class despite two indifferent starts. In the Finns, the Polish defending gold medal-winner Mateusz Kusnierewicz enjoys very much the same standing as Scheidt in Lasers, but Percy beat him at the pre-Olympic regatta here last year and he can do it again this week.

Andy Beadsworth, Barry Parkin and Richard Sydenham have had a disappointing regatta, being eliminated in the first round of the Soling match racing yesterday after losing four of their five matches. Beadsworth was good enough to win the class. Yesterday he found himself on the wrong side of three beats, made one mistake when he fouled the Germans, and came twelfth.

In the men’s 470s, Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield are not out of it yet, though their backward slide from a high point of second is continuing. They have now sailed three bad races and have slipped to fifth overall with just three races remaining. In Tornadoes, Hugh Styles and Adam May finished their regatta in sixth place overall, having destroyed their medal chances yesterday when they were over the line early in the first race, disqualified from the second race and finished tenth in the third.