The stakes were high on the penultimate day of ISAF Sailing World Cup Final action in Abu Dhabi on Saturday (29 November), with medal race berths up for grabs as the three-day opening series drew to a close.

Sunday will see the podium places for this inaugural World Cup finale decided in the Emirati capital, with the British Sailing Team’s Bryony Shaw assured of at least a silver in the women’s RS:X windsurfing event after another strong three-race performance on Saturday, which included a sixth race win of the nine-race series.

The Beijing bronze medallist heads into the final ten-board showdown with a 16 point lead over her nearest rival – France’s World Champion Charline Picon, who is the only sailor capable of preventing Shaw from maintaining the top step of the podium.

“I’m pleased – I feel like I’ve sailed a good series,” admitted the 31-year-old.

“People today were going for it more today – they jagged races, sending it off to corners and things like that. I was trying to play it more conservative and just try to wrap the week up. We’ll see how we go tomorrow!”

Shaw’s stablemate Izzy Hamilton revelled in the flatter water conditions on the windsurfing course today, adding a race win and a second to her scorecard, but in overall 14th it wasn’t quite enough to boost her into the final medal race positions.

Nick Dempsey, meanwhile, improved his standings at the end of day three with the help of two race wins from his three races, and will head into the final day in bronze medal position and hoping to remain in the podium spots.

“It was really, really hard – really tricky,” described the two-time Olympic medallist of the racing conditions on Saturday.

“There were a few times where you just had to roll the dice a little bit and just smash a corner. I did that in the first couple of races and it was alright actually.”

The 34-year-old feels like he’s been on good form in Abu Dhabi this week after a difficult season.

“I‘m certainly more confident than I was at the beginning of the week and I certainly feel like I’m racing and I can take anyone on the water at any point around the course. That’s really nice, because I haven’t really felt that for a long time. It feels like things are starting to come together a bit.”