Saskia still on course for gold at Sailing World Cup

The pair lie in second place overall after four races in the women’s 470 Women’s Class, just a point behind New Zealand pair Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie.

The Olympic silver medallists enjoyed a consistent first day, picking up two second places.

And after finishing sixth in yesterday’s first race, they followed that up with a victory that kept the pressure on their Kiwi rivals.

Aleh and Powrie, who won gold at London 2012, finished second and fourth in the two races yesterday, following two bullets on Wednesday.

Slovakia crew Tina Mrak and Veronika Macarol are third.

Mills and Clark are hoping to add to their podium finishes at the Miami World Cup and the Princess Sofia Trophy, earlier this year.

Speaking after the first day, Clark said: “We had a really good day.

“It was really tricky, so to come off the water with two seconds is a really solid day and we will take that any day.

“We’re looking at gold medals now, if I’m honest.

“This week is super-important for us – it fits into our programme and every World Cup event gives us a chance for us to carry on that progress.”

Fellow West Mersea sailor Hannah Stodel also enjoyed a solid start to the event.

Stodel and fellow Sonar crew members John Robertson and Steve Thomas are third overall in their Paralympic class after four races, following second and fourth-place finishes yesterday.

But Mersea sailor Martin Evans has work to do in the Lasar Class, as he lies in 35th place after two days of racing.

He wrote on his Facebook page: “Not a great start to the Weymouth World Cup – first race I started deep and pulled a few back and the second I missed the toe strap on a tack on the first beat.

“I went for a tack, next thing I knew I was upside down in the water with the boat capsized and struggled to make much back from that.”

The Paralympic Classes finish tomorrow, while the final ten boat medal races for the Olympic Classes conclude on Sunday.