Narrow lead for Ainslie

Ben describes his progress in the Finn Europeans so far

After five races at the Finn Europeans, in Marstrand, Ben Ainslie is hanging on to first place, although after today's racing his lead over the equally consistent Pole Mateusz Kusznierewicz is now just down to two points.

"It is going okay," said Ainslie of his progress through the regatta so far. "The first day of racing was pretty wild - 20 knots and massive waves and we had two pretty long races for the Finns – an hour and 45 minutes." This was a race of many wipe-outs.

"Yesterday we just had one race in light winds and that was pretty tough. And today another two races in light conditions. Sometimes the wind shutting off or maybe 2 knots, so it was pretty tricky sailing."

Ainslie didn't do so well in the final race today when he says the wind shut down on his on the second upwind leg, causing him to lose ground. He still finished eighth. "It was frustrating because I was in front of Mateusz and Sebastian and I was up there and it would have been nice to have got some more points on those guys," he said.

Meanwhile Belgium hot shot Sebastien Godefroid has dropped to 11th after he was over the line in the first race today.

Sailing in the familiar water of the Baltic, Poland's number two Finn sailor Waclaw Szukiel is also sailing above his game hanging on to third, although some way behind Ainslie and Kusznierewicz.

After two light days, tomorrow the forecast is indicating more big breeze coming through.

"I’m pretty happy," summarised Ainslie of his form so far. "In conditions like today it is very hard so you have to take the gains with the loses. You can’t do much about where you are when the wind shuts off."

With a slender lead, Ainslie still has his work cut out for him if he is to defend his European title.

Pos	Sail	Sailor	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Tot
1	GBR 3	Ben Ainslie	3	1	5	3	8	20
2	POL 17	Mateusz Kusznierewicz	6	2	4	4	6	22
3	POL 12	Waclaw Szukiel	23	18	2	6	2	51
4	CRO 11	Karlo Kuret	12	11	11	15	13	62
5	DEN 200	Jonas Högh-Christensen	RDG(19)	6	31	12	1	69
6	GER 79	Michael  Fellman	2	4	32	2	39	79
7	USA 16	Mo Hart	27	31	7	9	5	79
8	GBR 6	Andrew Simpson	15	17	9	37	12	90
9	CAN 41	Chris Cook	13	27	24	11	21	96
10	CRO 25	Marin Misura (Junior)	8	16	14	50	9	97
11	BEL 7	Sebastien Godefroid	1	3	10	BFD	7	101
12	CZE 1	Michael Maier	10	28	21	45	4	108
13	CZE 9	Michal Hruby	45	39	12	1	14	111
14	DEN 7	Sören Holm	22	5	25	38	22	112
15	RUS 8	Evgeni Tchernov	4	20	40	49	3	116
16	CRO 14	Viali Nenad	16	30	1	40	30	117
17	NED 78	Jaap Zielhuis	17	10	6	56	32	121
18	SWE 7	Åderman Kristian	33	22	15	8	44	122
19	FRA 73	Guillaume Florent	RDG(18)	15	33	25	33	124
20	SLO 5	Gasper Vinec	21	9	34	39	23	126
21	ESP 100	Rafael Tryllis viller	9	14	41	22	41	127
22	GBR 577	Dave Mellor	11	8	57	23	29	128
23	NED 6	Stefan de Vries	36	29	35	13	20	133
24	GRE 6	Papathanasiou Emilios	29	21	3	7	DNF	140
25	POL 7	Rafal Szukiel	54	37	23	10	16	140
26	GBR 15	Charlie Cumbley	28	32	37	16	28	141
27	AUS 221	Anthony Nossiter	5	BFD	18	14	25	142
28	NZL 27	Clifton Webb	25	12	8	NRY	18	143
29	USA 1208	Kevin Hall	51	49	16	18	10	144
30	ITA 71	Massimo Gherarlucci	35	34	26	33	19	147
31	TUR 6	Ali Enver Adakan	7	25	13	24	BFD	149
32	GBR 541	Chris Brittle	26	13	42	20	49	150
33	FRA 972	Bruno Ismael	30	23	38	21	45	157
34	NED 701	Martyn  Van Muyden	34	38	39	36	11	158
35	AUS 222	Paul Mc Kenzie	31	24	BFD	5	24	164
36	SUI 7	Christoph Burger	20	7	30	BFD	35	172
37	FRA 17	Rambeau Pascal	14	19	48	52	40	173
38	IRL 10	Aaron O Grady	24	36	52	28	47	187
39	GBR 550	Matthew Howard	38	40	27	51	38	194
40	GBR 2	Adam Cowling	32	35	54	43	31	195
41	DEN 9	Thomas Laursen	47	51	20	53	27	198
42	BEL 17	Vannes Van Laer (junio	48	44	44	57	15	208
43	ITA 15	Michele Marchesini	53	55	19	64	17	208
44	USA 11	Geoffrey Ewenson	42	26	BFD	29	34	211
45	ESP 107	Agustin Juarez Marrero	41	46	17	32	DNF	216
46	SWE 736	Johan Tillander	49	45	49	19	54	216
47	USA 1140	Boyd Bryan	55	50	29	31	59	224
48	GBR 593	Edward Greig (Junior)	43	48	50	34	55	230
49	SWE 734	Anders Nilsson	37	33	65	27	73	235
50	NED 80	Sander Willems	57	41	46	63	36	243
51	FIN 216	Tapio Nirkko (Junior)	44	42	45	59	53	243
52	GRE 12	Karntoutsos Apostolos	40	54	36	BFD	37	247
53	CRO 16	Emil Tomasevic	39	43	53	62	57	254
54	USA 78	Andrew Kern	46	56	55	47	51	255
55	GRE 11	Papastefanou Pachos (Ju	60	61	51	41	46	259
56	GBR 8	Tim Carver	56	68	72	30	56	282
57	NZL 19	Peter Fox	50	47	NRY	BFD	26	283
58	GBR 13	John  De Leeuw	74	53	70	26	70	293
59	TUR 7	Akif Muslubas	NRY	NRY	22	35	BFD	297
60	NED 804	Cees Scheurwater	65	58	71	42	61	297
61	SWE 735	Johan Wijk	73	DNS	64	17	65	299
62	UKR 1	Yevhen Yaroshenko (Jun	72	64	59	46	58	299
63	NED 66	Ewout Meijer	66	65	47	69	52	299
64	EST 8	Imre Taveter	52	BFD	58	48	62	300
65	ITA 890	Iacopo Tacchino (Junior	59	59	63	61	60	302
66	IRL 5	Youen Jacob	62	52	NRY	66	43	303
67	GER 203	Hartmut Duisborg	58	57	61	68	64	308
68	HUN 5	Tibor Pallay	DNF	62	43	58	66	309
69	GBR 1	Sander Kooij	71	DNF	56	54	50	311
70	GBR 567	Thomas Greig	61	NRY	60	70	42	313
71	BLR 7	Ivan Karatkevich	67	63	62	55	68	315
72	DEN 215	Lars Vesterholm-Nielse	69	66	68	65	63	331
73	AUS 223	Dean Mc Aullay	64	60	66	72	72	334
74	EST 15	Janno Hool	63	DNS	69	BFD	48	340
75	POL 40	Rubert Polczynski	NRY	NRY	67	44	DNF	351
76	SWE 3	Christian Finnsgård	70	DNS	73	60	69	352
77	SWE 726	Jonas Andersson	68	67	DNF	71	71	357
78	SWE 31	Björn Smit	DNF	NRY	DNS	67	67	374
79	ITA 1	Luca Devoti	DNF	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	400