Sailing: Ainslie error proves costly as Godefroid claims gold

Pipped for gold, Ben Ainslie had to settle for second in the French Olympic Week in Hyères yesterday. Ainslie went into the last race of 10 leading the fleet, but a 14th-place finish cost him top spot to his week-long rival, Sebastian Godefroid, of Belgium.

The 1996 silver and 2000 gold medallist in the Laser, and reigning world champion in the heavier Finn single-hander had no-one to blame but himself after misjudging his approach to the first turning mark.

"After that, it was all over,'' he said. "I am reasonably satisfied with the week, but there are a few areas to work on.''

The final races pushed Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith up to second overall in the 49er skiff, and, with the representatives for the Athens pre-Olympic regatta in August being announced on 14 May, that puts the pair ahead of their close rivals, Chris Draper and the 2000 silver medallist, Simon Hiscocks. Draper was third-equal on points, but fourth on countback.

"We're really looking forward to the rest of the year and the main goal will be to win the world championship at Cadiz in September," Brotherton said.

With a final push Paul Goodison made it to the podium in the Laser fleet, third behind Roope Suomalainen, of Finland, and Michael Blackburn, of Australia, and four places ahead of the six-times champion, Robert Scheidt, of Brazil. Also winning bronze was Britain's Andrew Millband in the 2.4 class.

Sarah Webb will replace the injured Inga Leask when Shirley Robertson puts her line-up to together in Cowes next week for an Yngling campaign that came fourth here. The Sydney gold medallist in the Europe will continue to have another Sarah, Ayton, alongside her for a concentrated training stint ahead of the spa regatta in Medemblik later this month. "I am confident this change will not affect detrimentally our medal prospects,'' she said.

* Bernard Stamm, the Swiss winner of the Around Alone Race, said yesterday that coming from a landlocked country was no obstacle to his rise. Speaking from the race finish in Newport, Rhode Island, Stamm said: "Learning to sail on lakes is the best school. It prepares you for the oceans."