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SAILING: Railey throws down gauntlet to sailing champion Ben Ainslie

Unheralded Zach Railey of the US continued to throw down the gauntlet to defending Olympic Finn champion Ben Ainslie with another strong performance yesterday.

Railey moved up from second overnight to take the overall lead after finishing second in races three and four on the second day of the regatta in Fushan Bay.

The American has 11 points with Briton Ainslie, bidding for a third Olympic gold after his Laser success in Sydney followed by Finn gold four years ago in Athens, second with 16 points after taking the gun in the final race of the day. Canada’s Christopher Cook lies third, 12 points adrift of Ainslie.

“It’s an honor to be leading, I’ve been training really hard for this,” Railey said. “But we’re only four races into this, this is a very long event, we’re not even halfway through. I’ll take it one day and one race at a time and just keep on moving.”

Ainslie had to settle for fourth place in race three, losing ground after opting to take a penalty turn while dueling with Railey.

“He had a fantastic opportunity to protest me and probably get me disqualified so I had to take a penalty turn which cost me distance,” said Ainslie, unbeaten in regattas in the heavyweight Finn dinghy since the Athens Games. “It’s the Olympics and you try and you do anything you can to get an advantage on your opponent and most of the fleet try and give me a hard time when they can.”

Ainslie said Railey was a serious contender for a medal.

“He’s sailing really well. He’s been in the class for three years and continually improving. We will have to see if we can give him a hard time in the next couple of days,” Ainslie said.

British Yngling trio Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson retained their lead in their three-woman keelboat. The trio have 16 points with Finland’s Silja Lehtinen, Maria Klemetz and Livia Varesmaa second on 23 points.

Ayton and Webb, along with Shirley Robertson, won Yngling gold in 2004. Ayton and Webb split with Robertson after Athens and pipped Robertson’s new team to win selection for these Games.

Defending 49er champions Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez languished in eighth place after three races, despite the Spaniards taking the gun in the opener. Britain’s Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes set the pace, followed by Italy’s Sibello brothers.

The 49er is the only class that will sail a 16-race series. Other classes sail 11.

Racing continues today in all three classes, with opening races at four other events, RS:X windsurfers for men and for women, and 470 dinghies, also with men’s and women’s classes.
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