Cracknell and Pinsent charge to final

British boats remained in fine form here yesterday as 11 more crews qualified for World Cup A-finals, after the success of the women's coxless pair and double on Thursday.

The men's coxless four and pair maintained British tradition by winning their semi-finals. James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent had just two seconds over South Africa at the finish line but, despite racing strongly, looked to be hiding a gear or two, which they will need today. The new-look men's coxless four of Steve Williams, Ed Coode, Biff Simmons and Toby Garbett won in a fast time, although they will have to keep track of Germany, who are quick in the opening stages. The four paced their semi-final evenly, and poured the power on in a final sprint for the line which revealed plenty left in the tank.

The eight are one of the least settled British crews, with recent training badly disrupted by examinations. Drawn in the repêchage against Croatia and the Netherlands, they held on to second place, pushing out the Dutch, but their best is yet to come. A medal today will take their best race this season, but there are weeks to improve before defending their title at the World Championships.

Britain's single sculler Matthew Wells won his repêchage, then kept up with tough guys Iztok Cop and Olaf Tufte in the semi-final. Wells started fast as usual, and this time stayed with the leaders after Tufte pushed through into second place behind Cop. The men's single is one of the most competitive races in this regatta, and Wells will have to raise his game again to stay in touch during today's final.

The men's double scullers Pete Gardner and Ian Lawson profited from the absence of Slovenian Olympic champions, Iztok Cop and Luka Spik, who are fighting it out in single sculls here. The rare pleasure of seeing a British men's double qualify for the final came as they held their nerve during a rapid start, then moved strongly from fifth to the required third. A medal is unlikely, but it is a welcome boost to British crew sculling.

The women's single sculler Guin Batten is delighted to have made the A-final after coming up against the impressive Frenchwoman Sophie Balmary in the semi-final. Batten was never in danger, pushing Russia and Germany well behind her, and stalked Balmary close for 1,000 metres before accepting her safe place as second in the qualifying top three. Although a medal looks likely, Batten's chance of continuing in the scull this season will rest on how close she is to the winning time, especially if the champion, Ekaterina Karsten, who was slow yesterday, recovers in the final.

The women's eight and quadruple scull row in straight finals today, after racing for lanes yesterday evening.

Teams have been announced for the next Supersprint event, Great Britain versus Italy Masters in Florence on 21 July. The 350m relay will feature the return of the rowing legend Sir Steve Redgrave to the single scull. For once, he may be overshadowed, since the highlight is the rematch between Britain's Jonny and Greg Searle, and Italy's Abbagnale brothers. The two sets of siblings last met in the coxed pairs final of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Then, the Searles dropped to sixth off the start, and had to row the Abbagnales down in heroic fashion to claim gold. Jonny Searle is under no illusions: "This time we'll have to get going a bit quicker. Let's hope it's like the last 350m from Barcelona, not the first."