In a 13-strong fleet, which also includes three sailors from Malaysia as well as the lone Australian and nine Britons, world ranked number one Megan Pascoe lies in third place after a sixth place finish in the final race pulled down her average following two earlier wins.

But with four more days of competition remaining, all three are very much still in contention for the overall victory.

"It's a good place to be but there is a long way to go yet," commented Lucas.

"It's great to have Matt Bugg here from Australia and Niki Birrell, a five-time SKUD World champion, who was starting to find his feet towards the last race today.

"We have also got some of the able-bodied sailors here as well so it's quite a competitive fleet and no doubt will be a fantastic week of racing."

There was strong competition from many different countries on the startline in the 2.4mR class ©Getty Images



In the other Paralympic class meanwhile, the sonar trio of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas are on track for their fourth consecutive Sail for Gold title after a clean sweep of race wins.

They are facing purely domestic opposition, with Andy Cassell, Tom Abrey and Chris Ogden lying second with nine points, tied with rivals Adam Parry, Jonny Stephenson and Liam Cattermore.

Racing is scheduled to start at 10.30am British Summer Time tomorrow for the second day of racing, with an average wind of eight to 12 knots forecast.

The competition will conclude with a final day of racing on Friday (June 6). 

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