A lack of wind had caused an early delay to proceedings, meaning only two of the three races scheduled were completed, but Pic delivered excellent performances in both to rise considerably up the overall standings.

The Frenchman was locked in a head-to-head battle with Estonia’s Deniss Karpak in the closing stages of the first race of the day, but he would have to settle for second place after Karpak assumed the lead in the final run to the finish.

However, Pic responded to his narrow loss by claiming an emphatic victory in the second race after moving away from Finland’s Tapio Nirkko and Croatia’s Nenad Bugarin, with the latter crossing the line in second place.

Pic, who will not be able to compete at Rio 2016 with his compatriot Jonathan Lobert having already been selected, moved up to fifth place in the standings on 41 points.

“It was a really good day for me, I started all the time at the committee boat and tried to keep to the right and I think my speed was quite good,” the Frenchman said afterwards.

“It was not easy to win but I was fighting all the time so it was good.

“In the first race I finished second after a big fight with the Estonian and I am really happy with that, in the second I won so everything is perfect today.”

Britain’s Scott, chasing his third Finn Gold Cup win, recorded eighth and fourth place finishes but with the former being discarded he moved onto 13 points for the regatta.

It ensured his lead has been extended by a further two points with Karpak now his nearest rival having moved into second place, 18 points off the pace.

Nirkko currently lies in third place on 31 points and the Finn holds a six point lead over Britain’s Edward Wright for the final medal position.

The Finn Gold Cup is due to conclude on November 29.

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