Yachting: Olympic champs one race from win

Olympic champions Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie. Photo / File.

Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie are one step closer to claiming their first world title in the Olympic 470 class.

Just one day and one race remain at the 470 World Championships in La Rochelle, France, and Aleh and Powrie retained their overall lead after two races on the penultimate day overnight (NZT).

The pair placed 13th and third in the races to determine the top eight pecking order and will take an 11-point lead into tomorrow's double-points medal race.

The reigning Olympic champs have 29 points and hold a healthy buffer over Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar of Austria in second, with local hopes Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron back in third.

The non-discardable medal race is where the pressure really comes on, with a shortened race course and double-points. The Austrian, French and Chinese crews placed are all very close on points and the battle for the podium will be a hot one.

The last day of finals racing didn't go all the way of Aleh and Powrie, though.

"Race one was a bit of an annoying race of missed opportunities where we were actually up there, but just made a few bad calls and ended up rather deep trying to get back,''Aleh said.

"We had a much better second race where we just got clear off the start and kept our wits about us in what were some rather tricky conditions, with rain squalls and massive shifts, to round the top mark in third. After a slightly scary second upwind leg, it just looked like boats were gaining from everywhere, we managed to hold on and finish 3rd.

"It was, however, a tough day for all of our competitors as well, so we have managed to keep our lead.''

In the men's field, Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox managed to scrape into the top eight and will be back on the race course tomorrow, too.

The pair began the day in 11th and an 18th place in the opening race didn't help their cause, but a second in the final determining race was enough to lift them into eighth overall by just two points.

From where they sit now, Snow-Hansen and Willcox could optimistically reach an end result of sixth, a very creditable showing for their first world championship as sailing partners.