Britain moved into the lead at the Nacra 17 event ©Nacra 17

Britain's Ben Saxton and Katie Dabson will take a slender four-point lead into the final day of the Nacra 17 World Championships after a superb penultimate day of competition on the bay of Aigues Mortes at La Grande-Motte in France.

The pair had begun the day in fifth place but soon recovered on a day of light, fickle and patchy winds. 

Two second place finishes propelled them up the leaderboard onto 67 points before the decisive medal race.

Spain’s 2008 Olympic tornado gold medallist Fernando Echavarri and 2011 470 world champion Tara Pacheco lie second, on 71 points.

A second British pair, John Gimson and Anna Burnet, produced a first and third place result today to move up to third, 10 points behind the Spaniards.

Spain's Fernando Echavarri and Tara Pacheco lie in second place ©Nacra 17
Spain's Fernando Echavarri and Tara Pacheco lie in second place ©Nacra 17

It was a disappointing day, though, for Italy's recently crowned European champions Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti.

They fell to fourth place, a further point back, after having to discard an 18th place finish today.

Two more races are scheduled for tomorrow before the decisive medal showdown.

The mixed Nacra 17 class first featured on the Olympic programme at Rio 2016 and is due to return at Tokyo 2020.

The World Championships are, however, the first competition to feature a newly configured foil design.