SAIL FOR GOLD: Three and easy for Scott

By Ben Baker, Sportsbeat in Weymouth

GILES Scott isn't competing at London 2012 and after his performance on day two at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta the rest of the Finn fleet will surely be thanking their lucky stars.

ON THE UP: After a disappointing first day Giles Scott now sits third overall in the Finn standings, Ben Ainslie leading

The 24-year-old is getting a taste of the Olympic waters at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy for Sail for Gold, a dress rehearsal for London 2012 in two months time.

And after a slow first day, where he finished the sole race down in 21^st, Scott kicked into action, finishing all thee of Tuesday's races in first place.

Ben Ainslie, the man that pipped him to selection for the sole host Finn spot at London 2012, is still leading the competition but Scott climbed to third overall, Kiwi Zach Railey being sandwiched by the two Brits in second.

And after finally waking up Scott on the south coast Scott insists he can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds for him.

"The second day was quite nice really, especially after a disappointing first day," Scott said. "Three bullets so I can't complain.

"It seems as though I like the wet and windy stuff. I think I managed to get my head around what was going on with the tide quite quickly and a few of the other boys took a bit of time with that so that was good and it gave me a bit of a leg up.

"It is good. I am sailing well so far and I seem to be in reasonable form and it is just a shame about Monday.

"But there is a lot more of the regatta to come and a lot more to do and I am now heading in the right direction."

On a rain soaked second day in Weymouth Britain's Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills, as well as Ed Powys and Dave Evans kept their overall leads in the 470 women's and 49er classes respectively.

In the 470 men's London 2012 duo Stuart Bithell and Luke Patience recorded a third and second in their two races to climb up the standings, now sitting fifth.

Alison Young was also putting herself into medal contention on Tuesday as she now sits sixth with finishes of second and sixth.

There was a mixed day for Britain's windsurfers with Nick Dempsey ending the day second overall, while a broken mast meant Bryony Shaw slipped from second to 12^th.

In the Paralympic classes, Britain's Skud 18 pair Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell shone as they won all three of the day's races, while the team of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas rose to fifth in the Sonar.

Meanwhile, Helena Lucas showed why she was selected for the Games with two second-place finishes in the 2.4mR to fourth overall, one spot behind fellow Brit Megan Pascoe.

But despite climbing the leaderboard Lucas was still left wondering what could have been had she not been sluggish at the start.

"I think I had two average starts. If they could have been better I could possibly have won both races," said Lucas.

"This regatta is all about staying on top of things ahead of the Games so I think it is just constantly staying on top of that sort of stuff, that is the aim.

"Going into the rest of the week I will now kind of put a bit more focus on getting off the start line a little bit better and hopefully that will put me in even better stead."

Investment specialist Skandia is the principal sponsor of the British sailing team. For more information go to www.skandiateamgbr.com.

© Sportsbeat 2012