All to play for

Andy Rice looks at today's fortunes in the 49er class

The Norwegians bounced back from yesterday’s OCS to grab the lead on Day 3 of the 49er Olympic Regatta. But no clear favourite is emerging from the competition yet. After waiting for the wind to settle, the 19 teams raced two heats in a steady 10-knot southerly. It was the type of day when virtually anyone in this fleet was capable of winning races, and equally capable of flunking them.

Overnight leaders, Marcus Baur and Max Groy of Germany, had a shocking day with scores of 14,16 and they plummeted to 7th overall. The Brazilian team had the best day with two third places, lifting Andre Fonseca and Rodrigo Duarte to second overall and just two points adrift of leaders Christoffer Sundby and Frode Bovim.

The Aussies, Chris Nicholson and Gary Boyd, gave themselves a mountain to climb after picking up 360 penalties on both first beats today, and their scores of 17,18 have relegated last year’s Pre-Olympic Regatta winners to 15th overall. A medal looks a very distant prospect for them now.

But the series certainly remains wide open, with at least the top ten still holding a realistic chance of winning this 16-race series. The two pre-event favourites, the Spanish and the Brits, are looking as good as anyone but probably no better. Great Britain’s Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks are the only crew to have kept all their scores inside the top 10, which could prove crucial in the latter stages.

But both the Brits and the Spanish would welcome an increase in the breeze to make use of their spotless boathandling skills. With just four leg races lasting half an hour or less, there is a huge premium on good starting and not that many opportunities to get back from a bad one.