Ainslie earns a rest as row rumbles on

Ben Ainslie will enjoy his first rest day since the start of the Athens Games today, safe in the knowledge that he is on course for gold despite his weekend disqualification.

The 27-year-old, who won in Sydney four years ago, has emerged as the talismanic figure of the British sailing team, especially after Britain's disappointing start to these Games.

When on Saturday he was disqualified for clashing with French rival Guillaume Florent, it looked like Britain's hopes of emulating their sailing dominance in Sydney were fading.

But Ainslie has dug in to show remarkable spirit. And, despite failing to overturn his disqualification yesterday, he won three of his next four races to move from 20th out of 25 on Saturday night to lead the Finnclass competition after six of 11 races.

He has 16 points, one clear of Spain's Rafael Trujillo, with former leader Mateusz Kusznierewicz third on 25.

Ainslie, furious at the decision to disqualify him, says he has been driven to take back the lead even if the decision is not eventually overturned.

"It just annoyed me so much that decision," he said. "It just made me want to get straight back onto the water and get my own back on them.

"It's great to be in the lead and I'm obviously pleased. Things look good but there is still a long way to go. We are only just over halfway through the regatta.

"I am pretty tired after today to be honest but I am relieved that I have been able to pull things around and get myself back in with a chance."

Team GB officials appealed against the race jury decision to disqualify Ainslie on Saturday after securing video evidence of the incident from the BBC.

Judges have turned down that appeal because it did not fall within the time limit stipulated in the rulebook but have promised to look at the evidence all the same. The result of their deliberations was due to be revealed later today.

"I honestly don't know what will happen," added Ainslie. "We'll just have to wait and see."

British sailing boss Stephen Park paid tribute to Ainslie's spirit, claiming he had been an inspiration to the rest of the team.

"Certainly things are looking good so far but there's a long way to go yet."

"The team have all rallied around Ben and no one doubted that if anyone could come back it would be him. It shows what a great sailor he is. He's got incredible focus.

"But he's working on the basis that he's disqualified and is head down and doing his best."

Shirley Robertson and her crew of Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb extended their advantage in the Yngling class yesterday to keep Robertson on target to become the first woman in Olympic sailing to win two golds.

They finished fourth in race five and third in race six and now have a nine-point lead over Denmark in the overall standings.

Webb now believes the gold is theirs to win or lose. "We are the most consistent crew at the moment and we have to stay that way," she said.

"If we carry on doing what we are doing then we'll be okay. At the moment we are trying not to look at the results. We are only halfway there."

Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield are also on course for gold, leading the 470 class. The pair lead Americans Paul Foerster and Kevin Burnham by eight points overall after four races.

Meanwhile, the men's Mistral windsurfer class will re-sail their opening race after the jury upheld

a protest from three of the fleet that race organisers should have abandoned Sunday's race over a course mix-up.

The men's Star double-handed keelboat, men's double-handed 49er dinghy and men's Tornado catamaran classes have all yet to start their Olympic regatta.

Sailors in all classes except the 49er are allowed to discard one score after five of their 11 races. The 49ers discard two in total from

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