On the penultimate day of the Finn European championship Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie scored two first places to successfully defend his European title with a day to spare. Ainslie sailed a perfect day crossing the line first in both races in winds varying from 15-16 knots on the first race and 12-14 in the second.

Ainslie commented: “I am really happy with how I sailed today and it is good to be so consistent during this event. It is obviously particularly pleasing to have won with a day to spare as all the top guys are competing. The big event is now the world championships in Cadiz this September which is the first opportunity to qualify for the Olympics.”

Ainslie won from Olympic gold medallist Mateusz Kusznierewicz of Poland and silver medallist Sebastien Godefroid of Belgium.

Overall Results (8 races, 1 discard)

1, Ben Ainslie, GBR (3,1,5,3,(8),1,1) 14 pts

2, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, POL (6,2,4,4,6,5,(14)) 27 pts

3, Sebastien Godefroid, BEL (1,3,10,(BFD),7,9,19) 49 pts

Other GBR

8, Andrew Simpson (15,17,9,(37),12,7,9) 69 pts

15, Dave Mellor (11,8,(57),23,29,12,13) 103 pts

25, Chris Brittle (26,13,42,20,(49),25,18) 144 pts

29, Charlie Cumbley (28,32,(37),16,28,27,25) 156 pts