Hannah Stodel once again underlined her potential for collecting a sailing medal at the Paralympic Games with an outstanding day's racing at the IFDS Qingdao International Regatta in China.

Having made a mixed start in the Sonat Class, which included a disqualification in the third of the nine-race series, West Mersea sailor Stodel, together with skipper John Robertson and Stephen Thomas, leapt up the leaderboard from fifth to first position overall on the third day.

The British trio, who have been selected to represent their country in the Sonar at the Beijing Paralympics, had a profitable day's racing, with a first and a second place demonstrating their potential for medal success at the Games in September and meant they were able to discard their disqualification from the overall list of results.

Meanwhile, the overnight leaders, the Norwegian crew skippered by Jostein Stordahl, slipped down to third position after returning a seventh and an eighth place.

The regatta continues Qingdao's preparations to host the sailing events at the Beijing Olympics in August and the Paralympics and racing is set to continue today, with a final medal race and closing ceremony being held tomorrow.

Stodel, Robertson and Thomas are looking to build on their success at the Semaine Olympique Francaise regatta in Hyéres in France last month when they swept the competition aside to claim gold in the Sonar Class with a day's sailing to go.