America's Cup yachting skipper Dean Barker remains favourite to gain New Zealand's Finn berth at the Olympics after opening up a gap on his rivals at the European championship today.
In tricky, shifty conditions, Barker finished ninth in the only race of the day to move up to fifth among thefleet at La Rochelle in France.
Of the other New Zealanders, Clifton Webb finished 14th to remain seventh on the points table, while Peter Fox crossed 24th to fall back to 12th overall.
There are three races left in the nine-race regatta, which is being used by the New Zealand selectors as the second of two trials for the Finn class.
Barker finished ahead of Webb and Fox in the first trial, the Princess Sofia event in Spain last month.
At the 470 world championships in Croatia, Simon Cooke and Alistair Gair had a win in light winds.
But at 36th overall, they look likely to be sailing in the second-tier silver fleet over the rest of the regatta at Zadar.
New Zealand will have one crew in the gold fleet, with brothers Stephen and Phillip Keen lying 26th on the points table.
However, Andrew Brown and Jamie Hunt, who have been selected for Athens, are back at 59th overall.
In the women's event, Shelley Hesson and Linda Dickson were 28th overall, while Melinda Henshaw and Jan Shearer were 43rd, with three days of competition left.
New Zealand's Olympic women's 470 representatives have not yet been decided.
It was a rest day at the Yngling world championships at Santander in Spain, where crews led by Sharon Ferris and Alesha Thorpe are bidding to qualify New Zealand for the Olympics.
