BEIJING bronze Olympic medallist Bryony Shaw went back to basics to prepare her for the all-weather conditions in Portland Harbour.

The former Weymouth schoolgirl, who is renowned for dominating in light wind conditions, relearned the skills of windsurfing ahead of the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta.

And it paid off on day two of the world class regatta when sailors battled winds gusting up to 30 knots.

More than 700 boats and almost 1,000 competitors from 57 countries are taking part in the fifth annual Sail for Gold and Shaw said it is the ‘big one’ all the sailors have tried to peak at.

The regatta, which began on Monday, is the fifth and final instalment of this year’s International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup regatta.

Shaw, 27, who now lives in Tunbridge Wells with her boyfriend Greg King, said she has spent ‘a lot of time’ training in Weymouth and Portland in the build up.

She said: “I’ve been trying to go back to basics and relearn some of the basic windsurfing stuff, trying to reinvent me as a windsurfer.

“I’m used to dominating in light winds but I need to be an all-rounder for Weymouth.

“I came sixth in last year’s world championship event in Weymouth, which was a disappointment but coming second at last year’s Sail for Gold showed I can still perform in Weymouth.

“This year is going to be a really good measure of how all my training is going. Then hopefully I’ll maintain that momentum for the RS:X World Championships on August 27 in Denmark.”

She added: “This year’s Sail for Gold is much more important than previous years.

“This is the event we’re really trying to physically peak at and use all the best equipment.

“Last year I was a bit short-sighted with my equipment, it was a big distraction and a big confidence knock not to be doing as well as I was used to. But this time I’ve done heaps of testing in the summer months in the build up for Sail for Gold and I’m really well prepared.

“I’ve definitely been inspired by Nick Dempsey winning the Worlds last year and it’s been great to learn what priorities he had for that event.

“He had a lot of focus on equipment testing, which I missed a trick on.”

Shaw’s all-rounder tactics paid off at yesterday’s Sail for Gold event when she claimed fourth place overall in the 50-boat fleet after two races in the strong winds.

Spain’s Blanca Manchon is leading the fleet after four races, while French windsurfer Charline Picon is second and Italy’s Flavia Tartaglini is in third.

Strong winds played havoc with the racing schedules on day two with postponements affecting the women’s Match racing, Laser dinghy classes and Paralympic classes.

For the latest results visit skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk