SAILING: The Youth Olympic sailors packed in three races on Day 4 of the 2014 YOG in Nanjing, China.

Youngster Tom Cunich had a happy day on the water, placing 7th, 13th and 14th in his three races. Teammate Elyse Cunich did not fare as well, with a 26th, 23rd and 22nd place finishes to her name.

“It was a pretty hard day but I learnt a lot so that’s probably a good thing,” Ainsworth said.

Racing around the corner from the main stadium in a protected patch of water, conditions were again challenging.

“It was pretty changeable- you would get some pressure, then you wouldn’t get any pressure and the wind would shift,” Ainsworth explained.

The Aussie teenager also encountered difficulty when another boat cut her off, costing her around ten places.

“Another boat just got in my way which cost me a fair bit but I ended up protesting her- she got disqualified but I didn’t move up any places.”

The athletes will race just once tomorrow on their third day of racing.

“We’ll probably keep it pretty conservative. It will probably be back in front of the stadium again which will change what’s happening with the wind again.

“It gets pretty tough trying to get motivated but I get pretty excited going out even though I know it’s going to be tough,” Ainsworth admitted.

Overall in the women’s event, Odile Van Aanholt (NED) has a slender lead over Singapore's Samantha Yom following at the midway point. Van Aanholt posted an 8-8-2 scoreline to Yom's 2-2-11 and is four points clear. Carolina Albano (ITA) is third overall, 23 points off Van Aanholt. Ainsworth’s total of 115 has her in 24th overall.

Singapore's Bernie Chin had an exceptional day of racing to take the Boy's Byte CII lead. The Singaporean recorded a 1-5-3 score line to overthrown Brazil's Pedro Correa and lead him by four points. Portugal's Rodolfo Pires remains in contention and is seven points off Chin. Tom Cunich sits on 76 points.

Taya Conomos
olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam