THE stakes were high on the penultimate day of ISAF Sailing World Cup Final action in Abu Dhabi today.

Tomorrow will see the podium places for this inaugural World Cup finale decided in the Emirati capital, with Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy’s Bryony Shaw assured of at least a silver in the women’s RS:X windsurfing.

That was after another strong three-race performance today which included a sixth race win of the nine-race series.

The Beijing bronze medallist heads into the final 10-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 clinching first place.

“I’m pleased – I feel like I’ve sailed a good series,” admitted the 31-year-old. “People were going for it more today.

“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, adding a race win and a second to her scorecard, but in overall 14th it wasn’t quite enough to see her into the final medal race positions.

Weymouth windsurfer Nick Dempsey improved his standing at the end of day three with the help of two race wins from his three races.

He will head into the final day in the bronze medal position with hopes of remaining in the podium spots.

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

“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 can take anyone on the water at any point around the course,” he added.

“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.”

Portland-based Alison Young will be chasing Finland’s Tuula Tenkanen for bronze in the Laser Radial medal race, with the British Olympian poised in fourth but tied on points with the Finn heading into the final day.

Podium Potential sailor Hannah Snellgrove narrowly missed the 10-boat medal race cut by just one point.

At their first competition since the Rio Test Event, Sophie Weguelin and Portland-based Eilidh McIntyre will be pushing for the podium spots in the women’s 470 finale.

The duo currently sit fifth but just one point from the third and fourth-placed Japanese and American crews, while three British pairings will battle it out in the 49er medal races on Sunday.

John Pink admitted that he and Stuart Bithell didn’t get off the startline very well in their three races today, putting them in fifth place and four points from the medal spots heading into the final day.

Dave Evans and Ed Powys were back in action today after a collision and subsequent hospital visit for Evans saw them retire from Friday’s racing.

They are placed sixth after a race win among their three scores today, with Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign in seventh overall.

Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves made the medal race cut in their first international outing since joining forces in the Nacra 17 class last month, heading into the final day in eighth place with team-mates Lucy Macgregor and Andrew Walsh qualifying two places ahead of them in sixth.

In the Laser fleet, world bronze medallist Nick Thompson admitted his frustration at “not being able to find my groove” and heads into the final day in sixth place, while Finn world bronze medallist Ed Wright made the medal race for the heavyweight dinghy class in 10th place.

In the Open Kiteboarding event, Exmouth’s Oliver Bridge won all of his heats to progress to the semi-final as one of the favourites, while the new pairing of Kate Macgregor and Kirstie Urwin ended their regatta in 15th place.